Seattle man pleads guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft for schemes to steal from employer, disaster relief program, and former significant other

Seattle - A 31-year-old Seattle man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to two counts of wire fraud and one count of aggravated identity theft for three different fraud schemes between 2019 and 2022, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Westcott Francis-Curley has been in custody since March 2024, following his indictment in August 2023. U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez scheduled sentencing for March 21, 2025.

The schemes began in 2019, when Francis-Curley embezzled money from his then-employer by misusing cloud computing resources and accounts available to him as an employee. Francis-Curley used employer bank accounts and his employee work authorizations to purchase cloud computing resources, then sell them back to the company-paying himself with company money-at many times their market value. Through this scheme he obtained more than $550,000, and he was caught while attempting to obtain another half-million dollars. He spent significant portions of the proceeds on extravagances, such as private jets.

In 2020, Francis-Curley defrauded the Paycheck Protection Program, a COVID assistance program designed to help small businesses and their employees weather the pandemic. Francis-Curley filed paperwork claiming that two companies he controlled had large payrolls that qualified for assistance, when in fact they had no operations, had no payroll, and did not qualify for relief. He obtained nearly $100,000 and spent much of it on personal goods and services.

Finally, in October 2022, Francis-Curley applied for and obtained a credit card in the name of his former significant other. Francis-Curley used the card for more than $1,000 in personal expenditures.

For the totality of that conduct, prosecutors and Francis-Curley's attorneys will recommend a three-year prison term. Judge Martinez is not bound by the recommendation and can impose any sentence allowed by law. Francis-Curley has agreed to pay restitution to his former employer, to the Small Business Administration, and to the person whose identity he used to obtain the credit card.

Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Wire fraud in connection with a national disaster is punishable by up to 30 years in prison. Aggravated identity theft is punishable by a mandatory two years in prison to run consecutive to any other sentence imposed in the case.

The case was investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney David T. Martin.