According to a new allegation, a Georgia convict pulled off a $11 million theft from behind bars.
According to Fox News, Arthur Lee Cofield Jr. has been accused of using contraband cell phones to orchestrate one of the greatest heists ever perpetrated from behind bars in the United States.
According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Cofield has also targeted other individuals.
At a bond hearing in December 2020, federal prosecutor Scott McAfee stated, “Mr. Cofield has figured out a way to access accounts belonging to high net worth individuals, frankly billionaires, located across the country,”
McAfee stated that Cofield had accessed a Nicole Wertheim account, the wife of Florida millionaire Herbert Wertheim. The unconfirmed accusation stated that $2.25 million had been taken.
According to the claims, the stolen funds were transformed into gold coins in both instances.
In a December 2020 Justice Department press release, U.S. Attorney Byung J. Pak stated, “Some prisoners aren’t interested in rehabilitation or paying their debt to society,” Cofield was charged with the scheme in December 2020.
“The allure of millions of dollars in gold, coupled with contraband prison cellphones, allegedly was enough for Cofield to commit a brazen million-dollar fraud scheme from the confines of his prison cell,” he said.
The Journal-Constitution reported that $11 million was transferred from Kimmel’s Charles Schwab account to an Idaho business for the purchase of 6,106 one-ounce American Eagle gold coins.
Some of the coins were used to purchase a $4.4 million mansion in Atlanta.
Cofield was a member of a Special Management Unit at the time of the event.
The Journal-Constitution provided insight into the operation of the fraud.
More on this story via The Western Journal:
“Cofield called Schwab as Kimmel to open a new checking account using TextNow, an app that made it appear as if he was calling from a Los Angeles area code. Told he needed a form of ID and a utility bill, he came up with a photo of Kimmel’s driver’s license and a copy of his Los Angeles water bill,” the outlet reported.
The house purchase was done with Cofield on the inside using his phone while his assistants brought cash to whoever needed it to make the sale go through. CONTINUE READING…