William J. Ihlenfeld, II U.S. Attorney | U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of West Virginia
A Maryland man has been found guilty of wire fraud charges by a federal jury in Martinsburg, West Virginia. Duane Dixon, Jr., 35, from Towson, Maryland, was convicted on one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and three counts of wire fraud.
The case involved a scheme where an individual impersonated a landowner and contacted a realtor in Winchester, Virginia. The imposter falsely claimed authority to sell real estate located in Hampshire County, West Virginia. Despite lacking legal rights to the property, the imposter listed it for sale through the realtor.
In this fraudulent scheme, deposit information for a bank account controlled by Dixon was sent via email to a real estate closing agent. This was an attempt to gain control over proceeds from the fake transaction. The imposter continued email communications to have funds wired to Dixon's account. When approached by an undercover FBI employee, Dixon lied about his connection with the sender of the attempted wire transaction and his knowledge of these transactions. His false statements were intended to complete the fraudulent transaction.
The jury concluded that these email communications were separate acts of wire fraud and returned guilty verdicts on all charges against Dixon.
Dixon could face up to 20 years in federal prison for each count upon sentencing by a federal district court judge who will consider U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jarod Douglas and Dan Salem represented the government in prosecuting this case. The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted the investigation under U.S. District Judge Gina M. Groh's oversight.
