A Texas man faces up to 20 years in federal prison after admitting he helped launder more than $1.2 million extracted from elderly victims through an international computer-support scam.
Chase Harris, 36, of Keller, Texas, entered a guilty plea in federal court before U.S. District Judge Philip M. Halpern. Harris pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering after federal investigators tracked over $1.2 million in stolen funds through businesses under his control.
According to court documents and statements made during public proceedings, the scheme operated from November 2023 through July 2024, targeting at least 25 known elderly victims across the United States.
The operation relied on tricking seniors into believing their computers were compromised. Co-conspirators generated deceptive pop-up advertisements on victims’ screens, falsely claiming the computers were infected with destructive viruses. In some instances, the scammers escalated their tactics by posing as federal agents and threatening the victims with fabricated criminal charges.
To resolve these non-existent technical and legal issues, the conspirators directed the victims to mail handwritten checks to several businesses owned or controlled by Harris. These entities included CSH Management LLC, C4H Management LLC, and S2J Consulting LLC. Court records confirm that no actual IT services were ever provided to the victims.
Once the checks cleared, Harris kept a percentage of the funds as a processing fee and wired the remainder of the money to an India-based company run by a co-conspirator. During the operation of the scam, a co-conspirator highlighted the financial potential of the fraud in a message to Harris, stating, “We can make millions [i]n [a] [j]iffy.”
“Chase Harris profited from a scheme that preyed on seniors by stoking and exploiting their fear,” U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton said in a statement. “After his co-conspirators extracted money from their victims, Harris laundered that money and sent it to India. Today’s plea, together with Harris’s restitution of over $1.2 million for victims, reflects this Office’s commitment to protecting the most vulnerable among us.”
As part of his plea agreement, Harris has agreed to forfeit all proceeds from the offense and pay exactly $1,240,847.99 in restitution to the victims. The federal government has already recovered $282,376 of that sum, which officials stated will be immediately used to compensate the victims.
While the charge carries a statutory maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, the final sentence will be determined entirely at the judge’s discretion. Judge Halpern has scheduled Harris’s sentencing hearing for October 29, 2026.
The prosecution is being overseen by the White Plains Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Reyhan Watson and Timothy Deal leading the case. U.S. Attorney Clayton credited the Federal Bureau of Investigation for conducting the primary investigation that led to the charges.
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