Jackson, Miss. – Jarvis Kendal Haynes, 30, of Jackson, pled guilty today before Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud and bank fraud as part of a tech support telemarketing scheme, announced Acting United States Attorney Darren J. LaMarca and Jack P. Staton, Acting Special Agent in Charge of Homeland Security Investigations, New Orleans Field Office.

An original indictment naming ten defendants in the United States and abroad, returned by a federal grand jury on March 19, 2019, charged Haynes with acts supporting a conspiracy defrauding multiple victims, as part of an international tech support and telemarketing fraud scheme.

According to the indictment and testimony in court, beginning no later than on or about January 10, 2015, and continuing through on or about December 20, 2018, Haynes conspired with nine other defendants, located both across the United States and in India, to commit the federal offenses of wire fraud, mail fraud, and bank fraud, in addition to offenses of money laundering, aggravated identity theft, and passing fictitious obligations.

As stated in court documents and testimony in open court, Haynes assisted leaders of a fraud ring which sent tech support emails or telephone messages wrongly advising consumers that their computers were infected with malware or otherwise compromised, offering for a price to help free their computers.  Once given permission to access victims’ computers, conspirators either in the United States or abroad would help themselves to personal identification information and bank account passwords from their victims’ computers.

Haynes specifically aided the conspirators by incorporating a company called Rapid Race Experts LLC, and opening bank accounts for the business.  Conspirators would then use the business name and the bank accounts to transfer and remove money obtained from victims during the scam.

“Fraud schemes, like the ones perpetrated and executed by these defendants, inflict considerable loss on citizens, companies, and the financial system,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Darren LaMarca.  “Many of these schemes target the elderly and often steal the victims’ entire life savings.  These arrests affirm the Department of Justice’s commitment to prosecuting those who prey on our most vulnerable citizens.”

Haynes pled guilty to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and bank fraud, admitting to his role in the fraud scheme financial operations. He will be sentenced by Judge Jordan on September 21, 2021.

Haynes faces maximum penalties for the wire fraud conspiracy of 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.  If the Court finds applicable the Senior Citizens Against Marketing Scams Act (“SCAM Act”), then Haynes’s maximum penalty could extend up to thirty (30) years.

Acting U.S. Attorney LaMarca commended the work of the Special Agents with HSI’s Jackson Division who investigated the case, and United States Marshals Service who assisted with the arrest of the defendant.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Theodore Cooperstein.