Greenbelt, Maryland – A federal jury has found Charmaine Miesha Brown, a 45-year-old resident of Lusby, Maryland, guilty of multiple charges including passport fraud, wire fraud, and bankruptcy fraud. The verdict, delivered late yesterday, marks the conclusion of a complex case involving deceit and manipulation of identity documents.
U.S. Attorney for the District of Maryland, Erek L. Barron, announced the conviction alongside officials from the U.S. Department of State's Diplomatic Security Service, the Social Security Administration - Office of Inspector General, and the Department of Homeland Security.
Evidence presented during the trial revealed that Brown, in collaboration with her Ghanaian husband, Andrews Oduro Brown, engaged in a scheme to fraudulently obtain U.S. passports for Oduro's children from Ghana. Starting in December 2014, Brown submitted an application for a U.S. passport using her child's name but with a photo of one of Oduro's children. This passport was then used by the child to travel from Ghana to the United States.
Further fraudulent activities included attempts to secure passports using forged documents stating Brown as the mother of Oduro's children. The couple also manipulated the Child Care Scholarship Program in Maryland, receiving undue payments by falsely claiming childcare services from a friend who had returned to Ghana.
In addition to these frauds, Brown and her husband were involved in a bankruptcy fraud scheme in March 2018. They filed a Chapter 7 bankruptcy petition using the identity and social security number of an associate, thereby evading a significant amount of debt and tax obligations.
The court has set Brown's sentencing for July 23, 2024, where she faces up to 20 years in federal prison for the wire fraud conspiracy, the most severe of her charges.
In a related case, Andrews Oduro Brown, aged 41, pleaded guilty to his part in the conspiracy on December 14, 2023. He has been sentenced to 28 months in federal prison and is ordered to pay restitution amounting to $127,951.22.
The successful resolution of this case highlights the coordinated efforts of various federal agencies in tackling identity and financial fraud. U.S. Attorney Erek L. Barron praised the investigative teams for their dedication and thoroughness in uncovering the details of these conspiracies.
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