Spokane, Washington – Vanessa R. Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that a federal grand jury returned an Indictment charging David Joseph Osinski, age 57, a resident of Arlington, Texas, with six counts of conspiracy, wire fraud, and money laundering in connection with his alleged role in a fraud scheme that stole more than $345,000 from an elderly Spokane resident in 2021.
The Indictment alleges that Osinski created a bank account in the Dallas, Texas area to receive fraudulently obtained funds from the victim. As alleged in the Indictment, Osinski and his co-conspirators tricked the elderly victim, a recent widower, through a romance fraud scheme in which they made the victim believe that he was in an online relationship with a woman named “Kathleen” who was an international art dealer who was attempting to finalize an art transaction in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The Indictment alleges that, posing as “Kathleen,” Osinski and his co-conspirators convinced the victim to wire approximately $189,000 to an account in Dubai, and an additional $156,640 to the Dallas-area account owned and controlled by Osinski, whom the conspirators claimed was involved in the supposed art transaction. As alleged in the Indictment, Osinski then immediately withdrew essentially all of the money by transferring it to a separate account of his used for cryptocurrency purchases.
“Internet scams, often perpetrated outside of the state, are a recurring problem which cause significant harm and hardship to residents here in Eastern Washington,” said U.S. Attorney Vanessa R. Waldref. “Unfortunately, fraudsters and scammers frequently target elderly members of our community. This case is an important part of our efforts to seek elder justice and fight elder fraud in Eastern Washington. In order to make Eastern Washington communities safer and stronger, we will continue to work with our law enforcement partners to vigorously prosecute scammers and their conspirators.”
If convicted, Osinski faces possible maximum statutory sentences of up to 30 years on the conspiracy charges, 20 years on the wire fraud charges, and 10 years on the money laundering charges.
This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Seattle Field Office, Spokane Resident Office. This case is being prosecuted by Dan Fruchter and Tyler Tornabene, Assistant United States Attorneys for the Eastern District of Washington.
An indictment is merely an allegation, and the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.