HOUSTON - A Houston man has been ordered to federal prison for a wire fraud scheme in which he deceived a United Kingdom-based company into sending him $357,000, announced U.S. Attorney Kenneth Magidson. Avery Lamarr Ayers, 48, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud on June 18, 2015.
Today, U.S. District Judge Gray Miller, ordered he serve the statutory maximum of 60 months in federal prison to be immediately followed by three years of supervised release. The court also imposed a restitution order in the amount of $357,000. At the hearing, Judge Miller also found Ayers to be a leader/organizer in the conspiracy.
From approximately Nov. 21, 2014, through March 9, 2015, Ayers deceived an oil and gas company into sending him thousands of dollars for a purported contractual agreement. Ayers and others claimed to be the legitimate company that was owed the funds and illegally caused the victim company to wire $357,000 to Ayers via a Comerica account here in Houston. The scheme involved the use of deceptive email accounts and fabricated or illegitimate invoices for payment on services rendered by the legitimate company.
On Jan. 20, 2015, Ayers registered a “dummy" company doing business as (dba) Minas & Hidrocarboneto in the Harris County Clerk’s Office. That same day, Ayers also opened a Comerica Bank account in the name of Avery L. Ayers dba Minas & Hidrocarbonetos GB SARL.
On or about Jan. 21, 2015, co-conspirators circulated a fraudulent invoice to the oil and gas company via email requesting payment in the amount of $357,000 on services rendered by Minas & Hidrocarbonetos. Two days later, a wire in the amount of $356,975 ($357,000 before wire fees) was credited to Ayers’ Comerica Bank account. After receiving the funds, Ayers arrived at the bank and conducted several transactions from the account to include the purchase of multiple cashier’s checks, the withdrawal of nearly $10,000 in cash and the transfer of $50,000 to another account.
Ayers had provided the bank with a fictitious letter to them purportedly from the company which stated "These funds will be used at your discretion to establish a small office, moving & research expenses and pay outs to families in Texas & Louisiana with Gas & Oil rights on their property." The bank soon suspected the wire was fraudulent and attempted to take action. The wire could not be recalled and Comerica requested Ayers return the funds, to which he refused. He then tried to withdraw the rest of the funds, but because of the fraud alert, the bank was able to freeze the funds.
Ayers is currently in state custody on unrelated charges. He will remain there pending transfer to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.
The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, Asset Identification and Removal Group. Assistant United States Attorney Suzanne Elmilady is prosecuting this case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
