Mississippi Man Indicted for Defrauding Local Business

MEMPHIS, TN—A federal grand jury returned an indictment charging an individual with violations of federal criminal law involving wire fraud announced Lawrence J. Laurenzi, United States Attorney for the Western District of Tennessee. The indictment resulted from investigations conducted by the Memphis Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The individual charged in the indictment is as follows:  

WALTER THOMAS WILLIAMS, III, a Hernando, Mississippi resident: The Indictment charges thirty-one (31) separate counts of violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 [Wire Fraud]. WILLIAMS is alleged to have diverted in excess of ten million dollars ($10,000,000.00) from his Memphis employer’s bank account to three separate personal accounts which the Defendant had opened in Tennessee, Mississippi, and Georgia. The scheme to defraud is alleged to have occurred between March 2008 and October 2009. The Indictment further alleges that the Defendant used the stolen funds to obtain both personal property and real estate. Items listed in the Indictment include a 2010 Land Rover, 2009 Land Rover, two 2010 Jaguars, 2009 Porsche, two 2009 Mercedes Benz, Aston Martin V-8 Roadster, 2009 Cadillac Escalade, 2008 Ford Expedition, 2009 Ford F-150 Truck, 2009 Chevrolet Silverado truck, 2006 Honda Motorcycle, 2007 Honda ATV, 2009 Can-Am Spyder, three-wheeled motorcycle, in excess of  seven hundred thousand dollars ($700,000.00) in jewelry, and seven (7) parcels of real property located in Mississippi and Georgia.

The maximum penalty for a violation of Section 1343, per count,  is a period of imprisonment for not more than twenty (20) years, a fine of $250,000.00, or both.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Dan L. Newsom and Chris Cotten are handling this case on behalf of the United States Attorney’s Office.

Note: Charges brought against a person through an indictment are accusations only. That person is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.