HARTFORD, Conn. — A Florida man was sentenced to three years in prison in Hartford federal court on Monday for his role in a scheme that defrauded people using the electronic payments system Zelle, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Connecticut.
Kader Gahmaal Biwaki Edmond, 24, of Miami Gardens, Fla. must complete 125 hours of community service and will be under supervised release for three years following his prison sentence, prosecutors say.
Prosecutors report that between February 2021 and August 2023, Edmond and others defrauded multiple victims, including those in Connecticut, out of more than $250,000 through a Zelle scheme and other fraud schemes.
Court documents and statements made in court note that law enforcement is investigating crimes against users of digital payment applications such as Zelle. In many cases, a scheme victim receives a fake message pretending to be from their bank, asking them to confirm if a Zelle transaction was authorized.
When the victim says there was no transaction, they are informed that a bank representative will be in contact and then receive a phone call from someone impersonating a bank representative, who informs them that an authorized transaction has occurred, prosecutors say.
The individual pretending to be from the bank will tell the victim they need to work together to reverse the transaction. Prosecutors said that unbeknownst to the victim, the fraudsters will link the victim’s phone number or email address to a bank account that does not belong to the victim by using Zelle.
As the victim is instructed to “reverse” the fictitious transaction by making a Zelle payment to what they believe is their own account, the money goes to an account controlled by the fraudsters.
On Monday, a judge ordered Edmond to pay $290,157 in restitution. Prosecutors said Edmond was arrested on Aug. 31, 2023, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit bank fraud on May 21.
Victims can report Zelle fraud to their bank or credit union, or to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center, by clicking here.
More information regarding digital payment application schemes can be found here.
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Dalton Zbierski is a digital content producer and writer at FOX61 News. He can be reached at dzbierski@FOX61.com.
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