Ashburn Woman Arrested In $5M Loan Fraud Scheme

ALEXANDRIA, VA — Federal authorities have accused an Ashburn woman of stealing $5 million from dozens of investors in a loan fraud scheme. Keisha L. Williams, 42, was arrested Thursday and charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, according to prosecutors with the U.S. District Court in Alexandria.

Williams solicited more than $5 million from individual lenders by telling them that she needed emergency funding to get software that she had purchased out of “escrow” in Austria, prosecutors said.

In fact, she spent the vast majority of victims’ money on personal expenditures, "including about $1 million on luxury travel and $1 million on shopping and retail purchases at places like Chanel, Gucci and Louis Vuitton," the prosecutors said in a statement.

If convicted, Lewis faces up to 20 years in federal prison.

Anyone who believes they may be a victim of this fraud is encouraged to call the Eastern District of Virginia Victim/Witness Coordinators at 1-800-221-6538.

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