Alcester Man Charged with Wire Fraud and Mail Fraud

United States Attorney Ron Parsons announced that an Alcerster, South Dakota, man has been indicted by a federal grand jury for 12 Counts of Wire Fraud and 8 Counts of Mail Fraud.

Christopher Day, age 31, was indicted on February 4, 2020.  He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Veronica L. Duffy on February 12, 2020, and pled not guilty to the Indictment.

The maximum penalty upon conviction is up to 20 years in federal prison and/or a $250,000 fine, 3 years of supervised release, and up to $2,000 to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.  Restitution may also be ordered.

The Indictment alleges that between 2015 and 2019, Day, who worked for Pedersen Machine located in Beresford, South Dakota, knowingly and unlawfully devised a scheme and artifice to defraud and to obtain money and property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations, and promises.

The Indictment also alleges that between 2018 and 2019, Day knowingly caused to be sent and delivered by the U.S. Postal Service invoices for transactions involving Day’s shell business, which were sent to Day from his employer.  

Day would order parts for himself, which he would resell online.  Day would make it appear as though those parts were ordered on behalf of his employer’s customers.  He would then cancel the orders, but still keep the parts.

The charges are merely accusation and Day is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty. 

The investigation is being conducted by the Division of Criminal Investigation and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey C. Clapper is prosecuting the case.   

Day was released on bond pending trial.  A trial date has not been set.