ROCHESTER MAN SENTENCED TO 51 MONTHS IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR $2 MILLION FRAUD AND MONEY LAUNDERING SCHEME INVOLVING CREDIT CARDS, PANDEMIC RELIEF FUNDS AND ROMANCE FRAUD

ROCHESTER, NEW YORK — A Rochester man has been sentenced to more than four years in federal prison for participating in a series of financial fraud schemes that targeted credit card holders, government assistance programs, and individual victims, resulting in approximately $2.06 million in actual and intended losses. The operation involved unauthorized credit card transactions, fraudulent pandemic relief applications, unemployment benefit fraud, cryptocurrency transfers, and the exploitation of a recently widowed woman through an online romance scheme.

Timothy Wadsworth, 35, of Rochester, was sentenced to 51 months in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Frank P. Geraci Jr. following his conviction for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering. U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo announced the sentence on October 23, 2026. Wadsworth was also ordered to pay $810,965.19 in restitution and forfeit an additional $810,956.19 representing proceeds he received from the wire fraud scheme.

According to federal prosecutors, Wadsworth conspired with other individuals between March 2020 and September 2021 to obtain money through fraudulent financial transactions. One component involved credit card account information supplied by coconspirators, which Wadsworth used to process unauthorized payments through an account with Stripe, a commercial payment processing service.

Between March 10 and May 15, 2020, Wadsworth attempted to process 310 credit card payments totaling $1,673,578. Of those transactions, 116 were initially successful, representing $730,728.22 in unauthorized charges. The legitimate cardholders had not approved the payments, and their financial information was used without permission.

Once the transactions were processed, Wadsworth moved the proceeds from his Stripe account into bank accounts held at HSBC and Evolve Federal Credit Union. Portions of those funds were subsequently transferred to a Coinbase account, where he purchased Bitcoin and sent the cryptocurrency to external wallet addresses associated with his coconspirators.

Federal investigators traced substantial transfers through these accounts, including three payments totaling $148,418.59 that Wadsworth moved from Stripe to his HSBC account between April 22 and April 28, 2020. The use of multiple financial accounts and cryptocurrency transfers formed part of the money laundering activity for which he was convicted.

The fraud extended into federal pandemic assistance programs established to support businesses during the COVID-19 emergency. Between May 13, 2020, and May 5, 2021, Wadsworth and his associates submitted nine fraudulent Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) applications containing false information about business operations and revenue.

Three applications were approved, resulting in $161,200 being deposited into Wadsworth’s bank accounts. The applications misrepresented information relevant to determining whether the businesses qualified for the assistance.

Wadsworth also submitted six fraudulent Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loan applications between March 7 and April 26, 2021, seeking a combined $91,219. Two applications were approved, producing payments of $20,833 and $20,416, for a total of $41,249. Prosecutors established that those applications also contained false representations concerning the businesses identified in the requests.

In a separate component of the operation, Wadsworth fraudulently collected approximately $65,896 in unemployment benefits between May 2020 and September 2021. The payments came from New York State, Washington State, and the U.S. Department of Labor, despite his ineligibility to receive unemployment assistance during that period.

Federal prosecutors also documented Wadsworth’s involvement in a romance fraud scheme targeting a woman who had recently lost her husband. In 2020, the victim established contact through Facebook with an individual presenting himself as an oil rig worker who claimed he needed money to return to the United States.

The individual requested $42,000 for purported travel expenses and instructed the woman to send the money to Wadsworth’s bank account. She transferred the funds on March 20, 2020. The operation exploited the victim’s trust through a fabricated personal relationship and a financial request connected to the supposed travel emergency.

Wadsworth also defrauded six additional individuals of approximately $26,000 through other components of his criminal activities.

Taken together, the unauthorized credit card transactions, fraudulent government assistance claims, unemployment fraud, romance scheme, and additional financial offenses produced approximately $2,059,893 in actual and intended losses, according to the Justice Department. That figure includes attempted fraudulent activity and should not be confused with the separate restitution amount imposed by the court.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Katelyn M. Hartford. The investigation involved the Federal Bureau of Investigation under Special Agent in Charge Allen D. Davis II; Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation under Special Agent in Charge Harry T. Chavis Jr.; the New York State Department of Financial Services under Acting Superintendent Kaitlin Asrow; and the New York State Department of Labor under Commissioner Roberta Reardon.

🔥 NOW AVAILABLE! 🔥

‎👉 Eclipsera – Apple Music

Sponsored • TRJ Ads
Inquiries: contact@therealistjuggernaut.com

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE

AVAILABLE