Jamaican DJ Arrested in Florida in Connection with North Dakota Telemarketing Lottery Scam
Twenty-Six Individuals Currently Indicted
U.S. Attorney’s Office
May 27, 2014
District of North Dakota
(701) 297-7400
BISMARCK, ND—A prominent Jamaican disc jockey has been arrested entering the United States in Hollywood, Florida, following his indictment by a federal grand jury in North Dakota for telemarketing fraud conspiracy. The indictment charges Deon-ville Antonio O’Hara, aka ZJ Wah Wa, of Kingston, Jamaica, with participating in an international fraudulent lottery/sweepstakes scheme. The United States Attorney’s Office today announced the unsealing of the amended indictment, which names 26 individuals who are alleged to have participated in the scam.
In Bismarck, U.S. Attorney Timothy Purdon said, “Law enforcement has done an outstanding job unravelling the complex allegations in this case. We unsealed the indictment in order to be able to again warn North Dakotans that, if someone contacts you over the telephone telling you that you have won a lottery that you did not enter, hang up the telephone because it’s a scam.” Purdon continued, “It is a long way from Jamaica to North Dakota; however, as long as there are allegations that fraudsters are targeting our citizens, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service will continue to pursue the wrongdoers, wherever they may be.”
O’Hara was arrested on allegations that he and his co-conspirators ran a lottery scam in Jamaica that fraudulently induced elderly victims throughout the United States to send millions of dollars to them to cover “fees” for lottery winnings that victims had not in fact won. O’Hara is alleged to have acted as a money courier who would travel to the United States to pick up victim money and transport it to Jamaica. According to the indictment, upon his return to Jamaica from the United States in November 2013, O’Hara was stopped by Jamaican Custom officials at Sangster International Airport with $105,000 in U.S. currency in his possession; the cash is alleged to be proceeds of the lottery scam.
O’Hara has been charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering conspiracy. If convicted, he faces a statutory maximum sentence of 30 years per count, a possible fine, mandatory restitution, and possible forfeiture of property.
As of this arrest, the Department of Justice has now charged the following individuals in connection with the scheme:
Lavrick Willocks, 25, of Jamaica Mario Hines, aka Buju Ramos, 20, of Jamaica
Gregory Gooden, 32, of Jamaica Gareth Billings, 25, of Jamaica Akil Gray, 23, of Jamaica
Dario Palmer, aka Innocent Palmer, 22, of Jamaica
Mikael Omarr Gillette, 24, of Miramar, Florida
Shannon O’Connor, 30, of Deerfield Beach, Florida
Christina Renee Hogarth, 25, of Pembroke Pines, Florida
Kimberly Carlo-Jean Hudson, 23, of Jamaica
Xanu Ann Morgan, 21, of Jamaica
Sherlet Anetta Love, 39, of Jamaica
Jason Joseph Jahalal, 24, of Jamaica Kazrae Gray, age unknown, of Jamaica
Dahlia Elaine Hunter, 49, of Jamaica
Sanjay Williams, 25, of Jamaica
Samantha Brown, 28, of Palm Desert, California
James Hayes Simpson, 72, of Owensboro, Kentucky
Tristan Fisher, 27, of Jamaica
Ricardo Augustus Bryan, 32, of North Lauderdale, Florida
O’Neil Brown, 30, of Jamaica AlrickMcLeod, aka Birdman, aka Z-Bird, 28, of Jamaica
Natalie Dougherty, 33, of Florence, South Carolina
Lindsay Mattig, 20, of Los Angeles, California
Charles Calvin Bauder, 54, of Jefferson, Texas
Deon-Ville Antonio O’Hara, 24, of Jamaica
Purdon singled out the Minneapolis Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which covers North Dakota; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) in Florida; and the North Dakota Attorney General’s Consumer Protection and Antitrust Division (CPAT) for special recognition of their tireless efforts in this ongoing investigation and also thanked a number of other participating law enforcement offices in North Dakota and throughout the world, including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI); United States Marshals Service (USMS); North Dakota Bureau of Criminal Investigation (NDBCI); Harvey, North Dakota Police Department; Iberia Parish, Louisiana Sheriff; Placer County, California Sheriff; Charleston County, South Carolina Sheriff; Pembroke Pines, Florida Police Department; Jamaican Operations Linked to Telemarketing (JOLT) Task Force; Jamaican Constabulary Force (JCF); and JCF Lottery Scam Task Force (LSTF).
Purdon stressed that an indictment or complaint is simply the method by which a person is charged with criminal activity and raises no inference of guilt.
An individual is presumed innocent until competent evidence is presented to a jury that establishes guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
Get FBI Updat
Di amount ah ‘of Jamaica’ weh mi count up deh is ah shame. Dis cycle of red yeye and licky licky need tuh be broken. The love of odda people money……:travel
I counted about nine people living in the US. I guess it is becoming increasingly more difficult to send the money through Western Union or the debit card, that the scammers are using people in the US to collect the money or have people come up from Jamaica to be the collection agent for a fee. I hope those living in the US have their documents in order or they will be flying home soon on Con Air.
Hope dem grabble all a dem and meck dem face justice. Too damn lowlife a teck set pon owl ppl. Most inna dem 20s inna dem health and strength fi guh look even wuck pon ship fi build up dem life. Bunch a lowlifes wah deserve every awful karma dats coming dere way.
“ZJ Wa Wa hamma business….” as per Kartel song. So it look like is we late…was wondering how dat drop inna d song but see’t deh…guess he meant to say “scamma business”
SMH
The US has been watching this scamma name Zj Wah Wah a long time ago & Kartel even said it in his song dat Wah Wah a scamma. Why can’t these ppl go look a work and stop with the scamming…just lock up di whole a dem & dash weh di key kmt sick and tired of dem
Zj Wah Wah used to.work fi zipfm ? Just ah ask cause mi know zip.call Dem dj Dem zj….any relation?