Ivan Wilbur Seales, a 58-year-old resident of New York and citizen of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, was found guilty on April 10 of conspiracy to commit money laundering after a six-day jury trial in Tucson, Arizona.
The case is significant because it involves nearly $1 million laundered from scams that targeted elderly people across the United States, including Arizona. Many victims lost large portions of their life savings as a result.
According to court findings, Seales kept part of the fraudulent proceeds for himself and assisted scammers by moving funds through complex financial transactions. These included cryptocurrency transfers and other offshore financial transfers, with some funds sent to India. The fraud organization used phishing attacks such as fake emails, text messages, pop-ups, or websites that pretended to be from trusted companies like banks or software firms.
Victims often saw fake pop-up warnings on their computers or received phishing emails about false charges from companies such as Geek Squad or PayPal. After contacting supposed representatives—who were actually scammers—the victims were convinced they had received accidental over-refunds into their bank accounts. They were then persuaded to transfer money back to the scammers under false pretenses.
Some victims were further misled with claims that their bank accounts had been hacked or linked to illegal activities like child sexual abuse material or gambling sites. Scammers instructed them to move money in order to “protect” their accounts or “catch” the criminals behind these threats.
Seales was taken into custody following the verdict and is scheduled for sentencing on June 18. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and New York State Police, while prosecution was handled by the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Arizona in Tucson.
