SOUTH DAKOTA, United States (CMC) — A Jamaican man is facing a lengthy jail term on wire fraud-related charges after he appeared in court Monday for his alleged role in a long-running scheme to defraud a California woman.

Dwayne Anderson, 35, of Hanover, Jamaica, is facing federal wire fraud charges. He was arrested and extradited on July 11 by Jamaican authorities. He had remained in custody in Jamaica since that time.

According to the indictment, from as early as 2010 until September 2017, Anderson participated in a scheme to defraud an American woman.

It said that using phony names, he contacted the victim by telephone, text message, and e-mail and falsely informed her that she had won millions of dollars in a sweepstake.

Anderson persuaded the victim, who believed the defendant’s false representations, to send money to pay various fees and taxes associated with the sweepstake. He instructed the victim on how, and to whom, to send these payments.

The indictment said Anderson repeatedly contacted the victim with additional requests to pay money and told the victim that her winnings would be forthcoming if she paid the requested money.

Anderson induced the victim to travel to Jamaica in September 2017 by falsely informing her that she would be able to collect her prize winnings. He told the victim to bring US$1,600 in cash with her to Jamaica and instructed the victim to give the money to a driver that met her at the airport. The victim paid the purported fees but never received any of her purported winnings.

“The Justice Department’s Consumer Protection Branch is committed to bringing transnational criminals who defraud Americans to justice, wherever they are located,” said Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brian M Boynton, head of the Justice Department’s Civil Division.

“Ensuring that those who perpetrate these types of fraud schemes are held accountable is a priority of the department, and I thank the Government of Jamaica for its assistance in extraditing the defendant to face charges here in the United States.”

The US attorney, Alison Ramsdell, for the District of South Dakota, said making a living by exploiting the trust of Americans and draining their hard-earned savings is despicable.

“The District of South Dakota, working alongside our law enforcement partners, will pursue and prosecute anyone who engages in criminal acts that harm Americans,” Ramsdell said.

“Collaboration between international law enforcement partners is critical to protecting the international rule of law and the US Mailstream,” said inspector in charge, Eric Shen, of the US Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) Criminal Investigations Group.

“The US Postal Inspection Service is committed to protecting Americans from transnational crime and is grateful to our partners in Jamaica for assistance in bringing Anderson to justice,” said Ramsdell.

Anderson is charged with eight counts of wire fraud filed in the US District Court for the District of South Dakota in February 2023 and was unsealed upon the defendant’s extradition to the United States on August 22.

If convicted, Anderson faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for each count.