Indiana Man Admits $500,000 Wire Fraud Scheme

TRENTON, N.J. - An Indiana man admitted defrauding dozens of victims by fraudulently negotiating the sales of valuable and rare items that he did not own or possess, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today.

Brian Combs, 49, Fishers, Indiana, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner in Trenton federal court on Oct. 15, 2024, to an information charging him with three counts of wire fraud.

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

From April 2018 through December 2023, Combs fraudulently obtained $581,605 from dozens of victims by fraudulently negotiating sales of valuable and rare items - which he did not own or possess - with unsuspecting victims, who believed Combs would deliver these items once they paid Combs. The items included rare bottles of whiskey, precious metals, silver coins, and a rare, collectable Mickey Mantle baseball trading card. Combs frequently requested that the victims wire payment for these valuable and rare goods to him directly, rather than through the e-commerce website where he advertised the sale of these goods, to make it more difficult for the victims to recover payment for the items Combs fraudulently failed to deliver to them.

The wire fraud charges each carry a maximum of 20 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for Feb. 20, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI Newark Division, Trenton Resident Agency, under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Nelson I. Delgado, with the investigation leading to the guilty plea.

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ashley Super Pitts of the Criminal Division in Trenton.