Elderly victims targeted in Jamaican lottery scam

PHILADELPHIA – Six people were charged July 2 for running a “Jamaican lottery” scam that targeted senior citizens in the United States after a U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) led investigation. 

According to the indictment, the following defendants were part of the scam from January 2012 to March 2015: Maurice Simmonds, a/k/a "Damion Dash," 34; Devon A. Grant, a/k/a "The Bachelor," 55; Majid Morris, 34; Ashley Hicks-Williams, 29; Melissa Duncan, 29; and Warren Chevannes, a/k/a "Dave," 37.

They were all charged with conspiring to commit mail, bank and wire fraud in a scheme that obtained more than $200,000 from mostly elderly victims with diminished mental capacity.  Simmonds, the organizer and leader of the conspirators, and some of the other members of the conspiracy were also charged with wire fraud and travel fraud as the result of specifically defrauding an elderly resident of Drexel Hill, Pennsylvania.

According to the indictment, the victims were informed that they had won the “Jamaican lottery” but that in order to claim their winnings they first needed to pay tens of thousands of dollars for certain “fees.”  The victims were repeatedly coerced to provide the conspirators with cash, checks and property but never received any winnings from the purported lottery.

If convicted, each defendant faces a substantial prison term, possible fines, special assessments and supervised release.

The case was investigated by HSI, the Delaware County District Attorney's Criminal Investigation Division Senior Exploitation Unit, and the Delaware County Office of Services for the Aging. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Anita Eve.

An indictment is an accusation.  A defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.