James Henley, a 35-year-old resident of Greenwood, Indiana, has been sentenced to ten years in federal prison. This sentence follows his guilty plea to multiple charges, including aggravated identity theft and wire fraud. In addition to his prison term, Henley will undergo three years of supervised release and is required to pay $1,887,426.63 in restitution.
Court documents reveal that over three years, Henley orchestrated various fraudulent schemes resulting in nearly $3 million in losses. These schemes affected individual homeowners, an attorney in Indiana, a bank, and several state governments. Henley established five fake businesses under names like OnTrack Real Estate Solutions and LDI Investments Corp., using them as fronts for his illegal activities.
One major scheme involved COVID-19-related fraud. Between May 2020 and March 2021, Henley collaborated with his wife Jameka Henley and associate Jimmie Bickers to submit fraudulent unemployment insurance applications using stolen identities. This resulted in over $1 million being paid out by ten states.
Henley's home title fraud between December 2021 and May 2023 involved filing false deeds for homes he did not own and selling them at reduced prices for personal profit. He also engaged in mortgage fraud by falsifying documents related to property ownership.
Further fraudulent activity included auto loan fraud where Henley misused funds from an attorney's trust account to make payments on car loans obtained through Everwise Credit Union.
John E. Childress, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of Indiana stated: “James Henley went to great lengths to coordinate exceptionally greedy, complex schemes that exploited hard-working families and state government programs.”
Megan Howell from the U.S. Department of Labor commented on the misuse of unemployment benefits intended for struggling workers during the pandemic: "He enriched himself by defrauding a program that was intended to assist struggling American workers during an unprecedented global pandemic."
The case was investigated by several agencies including the FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation division. The sentence was delivered by U.S. District Judge Matthew B. Brookman.
Anyone with information about attempted COVID-19 related fraud can report it via the National Center for Disaster Fraud Hotline or their online complaint form.