A man from Jamaica is charged in Connecticut as a result of his alleged participation in a sweepstakes scam that defrauded primarily elderly victims across the country of millions of dollars, according to federal authorities.
Authorities said the indictment alleges that Richard Murray, 31, and others, used a sweepstakes scheme to induce the primarily elderly victims to provide them with money, a scheme taking place since at least 2018.
“As part of this scheme, scammers notified victims, typically by telephone, that they won a Publishers Clearing House sweepstakes. The victims were told that in order to collect their winnings, they must pay fees and taxes,” according to federal authorities.
Following the initial phone call, Murray and others allegedly “mailed the victims fake documents, including a ‘winning notification’ letter from Publishers Clearing House and a letter from the Internal Revenue Service stating that the victims were required by law to pay taxes on their winnings.”
The victims sent cash, money orders and checks using mail, to various addresses in Connecticut and throughout the U.S., authorities said.
Authorities said the indictment also alleges Murray and others “used a network of ‘money mules’ to receive funds obtained from victims and transfer them to Murray and other members of the conspiracy.”
However, some of the “money mules” also were victims of the alleged “scam who had also been deceived into accepting and transferring funds on behalf of members of the conspiracy,” authorities said.
Murray and his co-conspirators also allegedly “recruited people to provide accounts that could be used to launder money, moved money received from victims through various accounts in different companies’ names, and provided co-conspirators in Jamaica with ATM cards for U.S. bank accounts that allowed them to withdraw funds generated through the scam,” authorities said.
A federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment in 2024 charging Murray with one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud and wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering,authorities said.
Murray was then located and arrested in Hampton, Georgia, on Jan. 22, 2026. He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Robert M. Spector in New Haven and pleaded not guilty, authorities said. He has been in custody since his arrest. No co-conspirators were named.
The investigation was done by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with the assistance of U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive Task Forces in Connecticut and Georgia.