Oregon Payment Broker Pleads Guilty to Role in $14 Million Bank Debit Fraud Scheme

MIAMI — An Oregon man who worked as a payment processing broker pleaded guilty Tuesday to wire fraud charges for helping two sham companies fraudulently debit more than $14 million from victims’ bank accounts, federal prosecutors announced.

Jeremy Todd Briley, 46, of Oregon, admitted in court that he secured payment processing relationships for the companies despite knowing they were illegally debiting accounts, according to the Justice Department.

Briley’s two largest clients were fake businesses that falsely claimed to provide online marketing services. Instead, authorities said, they stole money by debiting victims’ bank accounts without authorization.

From February 2017 to December 2023, Briley obtained and maintained payment processing arrangements for those companies so they could continue processing fraudulent debits. Prosecutors said Briley repeatedly received information indicating the debits were not authorized by victims, yet he concealed the fraudulent activity in multiple ways.

In one instance, Briley arranged for a payment processor to deceive banks by manipulating return rates on the fraudulent debits, court documents show.

Briley pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison, though the actual sentence will be determined by a federal judge after considering U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Sentencing is scheduled for July 20.

Former NIH Senior Advisor Indicted Over Use of Personal Email to Conceal COVID-19 Records

BALTIMORE — A former senior advisor to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has been indicted on charges that he used his personal Gmail account to hide communications from public records requests during the COVID-19 pandemic, federal prosecutors announced.

David M. Morens, 78, of Chester, Maryland, served as a senior advisor in NIAID’s Office of the Director from 2006 through 2022. He is charged with conspiracy against the United States, destruction or falsification of records in federal investigations, and concealment of records, according to an indictment unsealed this week.

Prosecutors allege that Morens and two co-conspirators, who were not named in the indictment, deliberately avoided using his official NIH email account when discussing matters related to a terminated federal grant involving coronavirus research. The grant, which had been awarded to a company and a researcher who made a subaward to the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China, was terminated amid questions about whether COVID-19 emerged from a laboratory leak.

Acting Attorney General Todd Blanche said, “As alleged in the indictment, Dr. Morens and his co-conspirators deliberately concealed information and falsified records in an effort to suppress alternative theories regarding the origins of COVID-19. Government officials have a solemn duty to provide honest, well-grounded facts and advice in service of the public interest — not to advance their own personal or ideological agendas.”

According to court documents, after NIH terminated the grant, Morens and the others agreed in writing to communicate through his personal Gmail account to prevent their correspondence from being subject to Freedom of Information Act requests.

The indictment alleges that Morens used his personal email to exchange non-public NIH information, discuss efforts to influence NIH funding decisions, and provide “back-channel” information to a senior NIAID official. Prosecutors say these communications constituted federal records that should have been created and maintained on government systems.

In addition, Morens is accused of accepting illegal gratuities from one of the co-conspirators, including wine sent to his Maryland residence. The indictment states that the co-conspirator referred to Morens’s actions as “behind-the-scenes shenanigans” and suggested future gifts such as meals at Michelin-starred restaurants in Paris, New York, and Washington.

Morens allegedly responded by identifying an official act he could perform to “deserve” the gift: a scientific commentary in a prominent medical journal advocating that COVID-19 had natural origins.

If convicted, Morens faces up to five years for the conspiracy charge, up to 20 years for each count of records falsification, and up to three years for each concealment count. Actual sentences, if any, are typically less than maximum penalties.

An indictment is not a finding of guilt. Morens is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in court.