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Prosecutors in Virginia have actually billed 4 males for their corresponding functions in a conspiracy theory to market counterfeit Coast Guard vendor sailor qualifications in Norfolk as component of a system that presumably netted them greater than $200,000, the UNITED STATE Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia introduced Monday.

Lamont Godfrey, 42, of Portsmouth, Eugene Johnson, 45, of Norfolk, Shunmanique Willis, 43, of Texas, as well as Alonzo Williams, 45, of Louisiana, are dealing with fees consisting of conspiracy theory as well as mail as well as cable scams for presumably acting jointly to produce fake certifications from the Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy (MOM) as well as market them to vendor sailors for a revenue, according to an unsealed charge. Godfrey helped MOM as the college’s Chief Administrator, according to theDept of Justice.

In a declaration to gCaptain (consisted of listed below), the college stated they were surprised to find out of the system as well as were the sufferer in this instance. Godfrey has actually considering that been terminated by the college.

According to the charge, Godfrey utilized his setting to produce phony MOM program certifications for sailors that had actually never ever taken the training courses for hundreds of bucks in repayments. In complete, the system netted over $200,000 in make money from the manufacturing as well as sale of the certifications to over 150 sailors, the charge affirms.

Located in Norfolk, Virginia, MOM is a personal maritime training facility offering sailors over 100 UNITED STATE Coast Guard authorized deck as well as design training courses.

“The mariners would receive the fake certificates along with instructions on how to load them in the Coast Guard systems and be credited with a fraudulent Coast Guard qualification,” a press release from the UNITED STATE Attorney’s Office in Eastern District of Virginia stated. “Johnson, Willis, and Williams worked with Godfrey as brokers to find additional mariners willing to buy the fake certificates. In exchange for their efforts, Johnson, Willis, and Williams all received a cut of the illicit proceeds from the scheme.”

Statement from Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy:

Mr Godfrey, a worker (admin aide) was ended when we were warned of the fees as well as have actually been functioning side by side as companions with the authorities on the issue of phony certifications.

We were definitely surprised by the discovery that we are the sufferers of a criminal act from a worker that had actually swiped from us for their very own monetary gain.

The scams committed as well as flowing these certifications is exceptionally uncomfortable. The sailors that bought these phony certifications fromMr Godfrey as well asCo did not undergo the state of art training that Mid-Atlantic is understood for supplying. Mid-Atlantic Maritime Academy is a sufferer ofMr Godfrey as well as his co-defendants activities.

We are functioning carefully with the Coast Guard to determine invalid certifications as well as most notably as well as instantly to determine the sailors that obtained these phony certifications to obtain them off our rivers.The developed procedures are all presently under testimonial as well as, as kept in mind over, we are dealing with all entailed to boost the accreditation procedures.

The 4 males are billed with conspiracy theory, mail scams, cable scams, as well as exacerbated identification burglary. If founded guilty, they encounter an obligatory minimum of 2 years behind bars.