Danville Man Convicted of Fraud, Aggravated Identity Theft, and Money Laundering in Two Different Jurisdictions

URBANA, Ill. –Jeffery T. Henson, 43, of Danville, Illinois, pleaded guilty to wire fraud, aggravated identity theft, and money laundering in United States District Court in Urbana, Illinois, on October 4, 2021. Sentencing for Henson has been scheduled on February 7, 2022, at the U.S. Courthouse in Urbana.

According to court documents, in 2016, Henson pretended to be an online job recruiter to obtain the personal identifying information of a job seeker. He then used the stolen personal information to obtain a job in that person’s name as the Director of Accounting at a Schaumburg, Illinois, consulting firm, thereby preventing the firm from learning of Henson’s prior convictions for theft. Once employed, Henson set up fraudulent companies with names similar to legitimate vendors of the consulting firm and used his position to forge company checks and direct them to his fraudulently created companies. Henson defrauded the firm of at least $1,868,765 before he fled the Chicago area and moved to Danville in 2018.

According to court documents, in 2018, Henson then stole the identity of an individual in Indiana with whom he made podcasts. Henson used the stolen identity to open up a fraudulent bank account and to obtain a job in that person’s name as the Comptroller of Watchfire Signs, LLC, in Danville. As the Comptroller, Henson defrauded Watchfire by causing Watchfire’s legitimate payments for tax liabilities to be routed to the fraudulent bank account Henson had opened with the stolen identity. Henson also laundered some of the fraud money by purchasing a $50,000 cashier’s check, which he used to buy a Mercedes-Benz for over $100,000. Watchfire discovered Henson’s scheme in November of 2019, when the victim of Henson’s identity theft contacted Watchfire after discovering that Henson was using his identity. By then, however, Henson had defrauded Watchfire of approximately $330,000.

Authorities arrested Henson on November 25, 2019, at a bank in Indianapolis, Indiana, when he attempted to access the fraudulent account he had set up. At the time, he was in possession of numerous stolen identity documents. Henson has remained in the custody of the United States Marshals Service since that time. At sentencing, Henson faces statutory penalties of up to twenty years of imprisonment for wire fraud; ten years of imprisonment for money laundering; and two years of imprisonment, consecutive to any other sentence, for aggravated identity theft.

The case investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Springfield Division, and Danville Police Department. Supervisory Assistant United States Attorney Eugene L. Miller is representing the government in the prosecution.