Department of Justice, Office of Public Affairs
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Thursday, July 6, 2017
California Payment Processing Company President and Part-Owner Sentenced to Prison for Fraud Scheme
A Santa Ana, California man was sentenced today in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania for his role in processing unauthorized withdrawals of millions of dollars from consumer bank accounts, the Justice Department announced.
Neil Godfrey, 79, was sentenced to serve 15 months in prison, followed by one year of supervised release by Judge Eduardo Robreno in the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. Judge Robreno also ordered Godfrey to pay a $50,000 fine and entered a $100,000 forfeiture money judgment against the defendant. Godfrey pleaded guilty in July 2015 to a one-count Information charging him with wire fraud. The Information described how Godfrey, working as a payment processor, knowingly enabled fraudulent merchants to withdraw money from consumers’ bank accounts without the consumers’ knowledge or consent. Continue reading
