Ivan Wilbur Seales, 58, a resident of New York and a citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, was sentenced on November 6, by U.S. District Judge Scott H. Rash to 121 months in prison for laundering money stolen from the elderly.
Seales was previously found guilty by a jury of Conspiracy to Commit Money Laundering. As part of his sentence, Seales was also ordered to pay $855,000 in restitution to the numerous victims who suffered a loss.
Seales laundered nearly $1 million in proceeds for a fraud scheme network that preyed on elderly victims from around the country, including Arizona. Seales kept a portion of the ill-gotten gains and helped the scammers launder other fraudulent proceeds through a maze of financial transactions he conducted through shell companies, crypto transfers, cash withdrawals, and other financial transfers offshore.
🚨PSA: Detecting online fraud schemes targeting our elderly Last week's 10-year sentence handed down to Ivan Wilbur Seales highlights the evil fraud schemes targeting the hard-earned dollars of elderly Americans. Here’s how fraudsters lured victims in this scheme: 👉Fake customer support: Pop-ups and websites impersonated banks and tech companies, directing victims to call scammers posing as legitimate representatives. 👉Bogus charges and refunds: Emails and texts claimed victims had been charged by Geek Squad, PayPal or antivirus companies. When victims called to dispute the nonexistent charges, scammers claimed they had refunded too much and demanded the difference from victims. 👉False account warnings: Scammers claimed bank accounts had been hacked or compromised. At least one victim was falsely told his account was linked to child pornography. Victims were instructed to move money to “protect” their accounts or help “catch” the scammers. 💡If you or anyone you know encounters anything like this, STOP before calling, clicking, or transferring money. ALWAYS contact the company or bank in question directly using a number from your statement or bank card. REPORT fraud schemes to the @FBI at https://t.co/PSQc87nexx.
— Colin M. McDonald (@AAGMcDonald) November 11, 2026
The scam targeted elderly victims with “phishing attacks” such as pop-ups and websites that impersonated trusted entities like banks and tech companies. These victims were directed to call other scammers who falsely represented they were representatives of legitimate companies such as Apple or Microsoft.
Some victims received a “phishing” email or text message indicating that they had received a charge on their account from the Geek Squad, PayPal, or an Anti-Virus Software company. These charges never occurred and were sent to the victims by the fraudsters to lure the victims into the scheme. Once the victims called the fraudsters, they were led to believe that these “legitimate companies” erroneously transferred an “over-refunded amount” to the victims’ bank accounts. As instructed, victims then transferred their own money back to the scammers, believing that they were returning the scammers the “over-refunded amounts.”
Victims were also lied to and informed that their bank accounts had been hacked or were compromised. At least one victim was told his account was linked to child pornography. To further the scam, the fraudsters directed the victims to transfer their money to various locations to “protect” their accounts or to “catch” the scammers.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and New York State Police conducted the investigation. Various other State or local law enforcement agencies also provided support for the investigation. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona in Tucson handled the prosecution.