A Clermont County man was indicted Thursday on charges of fraud that stole nearly $1 million from dozens of victims in multiple states.
Cody Winn, 27, was indicted by a grand jury on 31 counts of telecommunications fraud and 62 counts of theft, all felonies, according to a news release from the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.
The total amount reported stolen was $965,500, the news release said. Victims of the scheme were located in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, New York, North Carolina, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia and West Virginia.
In October 2023, the Sheriff’s Office Investigative Unit was notified by the Orange County Sheriff’s Office in California of a “possible internet scam” perpetrated by a Batavia Township resident.
The Orange County Sheriff’s Office has forwarded a report in which a California resident describes his interaction with an individual named “Cody Clay” from a company called “Market Modern LLC.” According to the report, Clay promised a lucrative investment opportunity and claimed that the victim would receive a full return on his initial investment after three months, followed by continued profits.
The victim provided $25,000 to fund the creation of an automated Amazon store, but after months of no progress, the victim was unable to contact anyone to request a refund.
The Clermont County Sheriff’s Office subsequently began an investigation and concluded through documents that “Cody Clay” was Winn, who was discovered to be operating a YouTube channel to market his business plan to potential customers.
During the investigation, Winn was identified as responsible for collecting payments from investors and directing the funds to a separate organization, a global e-commerce company operating in multiple countries, to assist with management, the press release said.
Victim testimony indicated that Winn was involved in this operation between March and October 2023. Through communications with company staff, information was confirmed that Winn had failed to forward payments to several investors who had entrusted him with their money.
The sheriff’s office contacted 31 of these investors, each of whom paid Winn between $25,000 and $60,000. The investors also reported multiple attempts to contact Winn and his company for a refund, but received no response.
An examination of Winn’s bank records between March and September 2023 shows that hundreds of thousands of dollars were deposited into his accounts. Every month he spent between $50,000 and $365,000 on personal purchases and advertising space for social media platforms. Winn did not want to talk to the sheriff’s office about the investigation.
Winn was arrested Thursday by the sheriff’s office and taken to the Clermont County Jail, where he is being held without bond. He will be arraigned Friday before Clermont County Common Pleas Judge Anthony Brock.
It could not be determined Thursday evening whether Winn has an attorney.
This article originally appeared on Cincinnati Enquirer: Clermont County man charged with fraud in multiple states
