Durrant Pate/Contributor

A Jamaican national has been indicted for lottery scamming and money laundering offences stemming from his alleged participation in a sweepstakes scam that defrauded primarily elderly victims across the country of millions of dollars.

He is 31-year-old Richard Murray, who was read the indictment last Wednesday. The case is being prosecuted by US Attorney for the District of Connecticut, David X. Sullivan and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the US Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division. 

The indictment alleges that since at least 2018, Murray and others used a sweepstakes scheme to induce primarily elderly victims to swindle them out of money. As part of the hoax, 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. Following the initial phone call, Murray and others 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.

Details of the scam

Victims sent cash, money orders or checks through the mail to various addresses in Connecticut and throughout the US The indictment also alleges that Murray and others used a network of “money mules” to receive funds obtained from victims and transfer them to him and other members of the conspiracy. 

Some of the money mules were themselves victims of the scam who had also been deceived into accepting and transferring funds on behalf of members of the conspiracy. Murray and his co-conspirators also recruited people to provide accounts that could be used to launder money, and moved money received from victims through various accounts in different companies’ names.

They also provided co-conspirators in Jamaica with ATM cards for US bank accounts that allowed them to withdraw funds generated through the scam. On April 16, 2024, a federal grand jury in New Haven returned an indictment 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.  

Each of these offences carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 20 years. Murray was located and arrested in Hampton, Georgia, on January 22, 2026.  

Pleaded not guilty 

He appeared last Wednesday before US Magistrate Judge Robert M Spector in New Haven and pleaded not guilty. Murray has been detained since his arrest.

US Attorney Sullivan stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt. Charges are only allegations, and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This investigation is being conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with the assistance of the US Marshals Service Fugitive Task Forces in Connecticut and Georgia.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant US Attorney Heather L Cherry.