DEBARY -- At first, Volusia County Sheriff's deputies investigating a financial fraud gave 44-year-old Linda Stafford the benefit of the doubt and classified her as an unwitting dupe who didn't realize she was involved in a scam, an agency spokesman said.
That was back in June of last year, when deputies told the DeBary woman to stop what she was doing. But then deputies discovered that Stafford continued her activities after being warned, and in
January they arrested her on charges of scheme to defraud and grand theft. Those charges are still working their way through the court system.
But a deeper investigation has revealed the full extent of Stafford's involvement in a check-cashing scam that has its origins in Nigeria.
Stafford is accused of mailing fraudulent checks to victims all around the country, instructing them to deposit the checks, keep a portion of the money for themselves and wire the rest back to her.
Investigators obtained a copy of her check register, which shows that she mailed phony checks to more than 1,000 people in the six-month period between Julyand January.
"No one's sure how many victims followed Stafford's instructions and sent money back to her before their banks realized that the deposited checks were fraudulent." Sheriff's spokesman Gary Davidson said. "If all 1,022 people followed her instructions, investigators figure Stafford stood to pocket in excess of $2 million."
So far, the Sheriff's Office has tracked down 15 victims from as far away as California, New Jersey, Texas and Colorado who sent Stafford a combined $26,835, Davidson said.
"Based on the new information, investigators obtained an arrest warrant for Stafford on Thursday charging her with a new count of organized scheme to defraud," he said. "Deputies caught up to Stafford at about 10:20 p.m. Friday night at her home on Alemander Avenue and
took her to jail, where she's being held on $50,000."
According to information uncovered in the investigation, here's how the
scam worked:
Stafford along with thousands of others applied for a job as a payroll
or accounts receivable clerk. A source in Nigeria told Stafford she was
hired and directed her to purchase a check-writing program for her
computer. For others who applied, the source in Nigeria collected their
personal information as part of the phony job application process. Then
Stafford would print the phony checks and obtain lists from Nigeria of
people to whom she would send the checks. The other victims were told it
was legitimate work and that the checks were for scholarships or
rebates. For those who fell for the scam, they deposited the checks into
their accounts -- usually around $1,000 or $2,000 -- and then sent most
of it back to Stafford by Western Union. The victims were told they
could keep some of the money -- a couple of hundred dollars -- for
themselves as part of the transaction. After sending the money back to
Stafford, the victims would find out from their banks that the checks
they deposited were worthless.
Sheriff's investigator Chuck Lee spent months documenting the scam by
poring over records and tracking down as many victims as he could
locate. What Lee discovered is that Stafford mailed out all 1,022
fraudulent checks after she was warned last year to stop because it was
a scam. Lee also documented the fact that Stafford received $26,835 from
15 victims and paid $1,300 of the money to her source in Nigeria. What
investigators don't know is what Stafford did with the rest of the
money.