Previously Convicted Fraudster Charged With New Fraud Scheme

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

ROCHESTER, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that Henry Williams, 54, of Rochester, NY, was arrested and charged by criminal complaint with wire fraud, bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft. The charges carry a minimum penalty of two years in prison, a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison, and a $1,000,000 fine.
 
Assistant U.S. Attorney John J. Field, who is handling the case, stated that the defendant is currently on supervised release following a 2016 conviction for bank fraud in the Western District of New York. According to the complaint, Williams engaged in a new scheme to defraud his employer and others. The defendant worked at the front desk of a Holiday Inn Hotel, and while so employed used the hotel’s Point of Sale machine fraudulently  to load and attempt to load hundreds of thousands of dollars onto credit/debit cards that he controlled. Williams impersonated various hotel managers while making phone calls to the hotel’s card payment processor in furtherance of his scheme. The defendant also attempted to cover his tracks and conceal his involvement in the fraud by impersonating a hotel employee and making false complaints of criminal activity by another hotel employee. 
 
In total, Williams attempted to defraud the hotel and hotel’s banks out of approximately $850,000. The defendant also made fraudulent and unauthorized charges in the approximate amount of $780 by using information regarding a customer’s credit/debit card that he had stolen from the hotel.
 
The defendant made an initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Marian W. Payson and is being detained.
 
The criminal complaint is the result of an investigation by Special Agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, acting under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert, and U.S. Probation Officers, acting under the direction of Chief Probation Officer Anthony SanGiacomo.
 
The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.  
 
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