The Gwinnett County Police Department and the District Attorney’s Office have finalized a two-year fraud investigation by indicting two men on a series of charges. Following an intricate probe that commenced in August 2022, Winston Dougan and Mikhail Roosevelt Keize now face 19 counts, encompassing fraud and forgery-related offenses, as reported by Gwinnett County.
Initially, Dougan was implicated in a business email compromise scam after an Illinois victim was deceived into wiring $192,987 to what she believed was a service provider. The money was instead diverted into Dougan's bank account. According to Gwinnett County's press release, Dougan then utilized a portion of these ill-gotten gains to issue a $133,000 check to Keize.
Further digging by detectives unearthed that Dougan had been orchestrating a complex web of deceit, controlling over half a dozen fraudulent bank accounts. His illegal maneuvers siphoned roughly $441,000 from victims scattered across states including California and Texas to New Jersey and Florida, spanning from June to August of the previous year.
Culminating on July 17, the District Attorney's office handed down an 18-count indictment against Winston Dougan, delineating seven counts of theft by receiving stolen property over $25,000, six counts of identity fraud, and a combination of five forgery counts. Keize received an indictment for a single count of theft by receiving stolen property over $25,000. The public has been urged by detectives to remain vigilant with emails requesting payment information changes, advocating for direct vendor verification to confirm legitimacy.
