New York man admits conspiring to engage in multimillion-dollar wire fraud scheme

Date: Oct. 1, 2024

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Newark, NJ - A New York man today admitted conspiring to commit wire fraud that caused losses of more than $2 million, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Terrell Fuller of Baldwin, New York, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Court Judge Stanley R. Chesler in Newark federal court to an information charging him with one count of wire fraud conspiracy.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Fuller and his conspirators submitted a fraudulent application to the Small Business Administration (SBA), which caused the SBA to provide them with approximately $1.2 million. They also opened bank accounts in the names of various entities and individuals, deposited illegally obtained or fraudulent checks into those accounts, and then withdrew and attempted to withdraw money from the accounts. Fuller, using stolen personal identifying information, fraudulently rented locations to live in New York and failed to pay more than $400,000 in rent and fees for those locations. Fuller and his conspirators obtained more than $2 million in money and property through their fraudulent actions.

The wire fraud conspiracy charge is punishable by a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and maximum fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the funds involved in the transfer, whichever is greater. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 5, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan in Newark and special agents of the FBI, Franklin Township Resident Agency, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado in Newark, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Kogan of the Cybercrime Unit in Newark.

IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.