Blaine Business Owner Indicted for $600,000 Scheme to Defraud Hundreds of Jobseekers

MINNEAPOLIS – A Blaine man has been indicted on wire fraud charges after devising an employment opportunity scheme to defraud hundreds of jobseekers out of approximately $600,000, announced United States Attorney Andrew M. Luger.

According to court documents, Charles Edward Fields, 43, was the owner and operator of a series of companies through which he pitched employment opportunities to prospective workers throughout the United States. The employment opportunities that Fields purported to provide were through his businesses, some of which included HOMESoft Systems Incorporated, WaterTek Marketing Corporation, Water Innovations Group, Inc., W I G Holdings Corporation, Mile High H20 Corporation, and the NEW H20. Fields, claimed that, after job applicants paid him an upfront deposit of approximately $3,000 to $5,000, he would hire them as sales contractors to sell products nationwide to the public, primarily home security or water filtration systems. As part of the scheme, Fields also misrepresented his affiliation with, and his authority to act on behalf of, Company A, a long-standing international company that designs and distributes various models of water machines and filtration systems.

According to court documents, Fields routinely posted nationwide online employment advertisements promising job seekers training, sales leads, and $6,000 in guaranteed monthly profit. In reality, the employment opportunities never materialized as promised by Fields. In order to conceal his fraud and to stave off scrutiny, Fields lulled his victims with bogus excuses as to why he was unable to fulfill his promises or to return their funds.  In total, Fields defrauded at least 250 victims of at least $600,000.

The indictment charges Fields with five counts of wire fraud. He is scheduled to make his initial appearance in U.S. District Court on June 30, 2023.

This case is the result of an investigation conducted by the FBI.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Ebert is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.