Florida Man Masterminds Nationwide $3,010,000 Staffing and Payroll Fraud Scheme, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison

A Florida man has been sentenced to 12 years in federal prison and ordered to pay $3.01 million after admitting he led a scheme that defrauded staffing and payroll companies.

Crispian Atkins, 52, of Valrico, pleaded guilty on May 20th to conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud and aggravated identity theft, says the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Florida.

U.S. District Judge Virginia M. Hernandez Covington sentenced him on September 29th of, 2026.

Court papers show the scheme ran from May of 2021 through March of 2024 and hit 10 companies that provide employment, payroll and financing services. The victim companies are located across the US.

Atkins and others falsely claimed they had landed information technology contracts and needed staffing or financing to do the work.

Some firms hired the group as temporary employees so they could complete the purported work.

Atkins then sent in fake timesheets so the companies would wire pay for work that was not real.

Prosecutors say the group moved the money through other accounts, took out cash to hide the source and split the proceeds.

In addition to the prison term, the court ordered Atkins to pay $3.01 million in restitution and forfeit the proceeds of the criminal conduct to the tune of $1.56 million.

The FBI’s Tampa Division and its Reno office investigated, with help from the Norwood Police Department in Massachusetts and the Polk County Sheriff’s Office.

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The post Florida Man Masterminds Nationwide $3,010,000 Staffing and Payroll Fraud Scheme, Sentenced to 12 Years in Prison appeared first on The Daily Hodl.