AO 91 (Rev. 08/09) Criminal Complaint

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

for the

Southern District of Florida

United States of America

v.

JEFFREY SPIVACK

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Case No. 20-8271-BER

Defendant(s)

CRIMINAL COMPLAINT

I, the complainant in this case, state that the following is true to the best of my knowledge and belief.

On or about the date(s) of June 2014 - July 31,2020 in the county of Palm Beach in the

Southern District of Florida , the defendant(s) violated:

Code Section Offense Description

18 USC 1343 Wire Fraud

18 USC 875(b) Extortion by Interstate Communications

This criminal complaint is based on these facts:

See Attached Affidavit

~ Continued on the attached sheet.

FBI Special Agent William E. Johnson

Printed name and title

Sworn to before me and signed in my presence.

Date:

Judge's signature

City and state: Bruce Reinhart, U.S. Magistrate Judge

Printed name and title

TM Jul 31, 2020 West Palm Beach

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AFFIDAVIT IN SUPPORT OF

CRIMINAL COMPLAINT 20-8271-BER

I, William E. Johnson, being first duly sworn, hereby depose and state as follows:

I. I make this affidavit in support of a criminal complaint against Jeffrey SPIVACK

for violations of Wire Fraud, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §1343, and Extortion by Interstate

Communications, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §875(b).

2. I am a special agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI") and have

been since February of2010. I attended FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia and received

training in conducting investigations into violations of federal laws. Since July of 20 I0 I have

been assigned to a squad that investigates financial crimes. I have conducted numerous

investigations including wire fraud, financial institution fraud, securities fraud, and Ponzi

schemes.

3. This affidavit is intended to show only that there is sufficient probable cause to

arrest Jeffrey SPIVACK and does not set forth all of my knowledge about this matter.

4. As detailed below, Jeffrey SPIVACK, a Miami-based private investigator, has

been defrauding Victim- I, an elderly woman in Boca Raton who suffers from diminished mental

acuity after being treated for brain cancer and suffering a stroke in 2017.

5. Initially, Victim-l hired Jeffrey SPIVACK in 2014 when she was looking for a

private investigator to assist her with determining whether she was under surveillance by her exhusband. Thereafter, SPIVACK caused a transfer of $500,000 from Victim-l 's investment

account to SPIVACK!, allegedly to cover SPIVACK's expenses in locating assets of Victim-I 's

1 This money was sent via wire transfer on or about July 12,2016 to SPIVACK's account at Bank of America which

he opened in the name ofMed Safety Corporation.

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ex-husband in a foreign country. However, international travel records belie SPIVACK's

representations to Victim-l that he traveled to this foreign country.

6. Thereafter, since at least 2017, as Victim-l's health and mental acuity continued

to decline, SPIVACK convinced Victim-l that she was expected to receive $200 million from

the government as a whistleblower in a fraud investigation allegedly involving her ex-husband.

To further perpetrate the fraud, SPIVACK "introduced" VICTIM-l to a fictitious person named

"Donna," who was allegedly an undercover agent who would be assisting VICTIM-l in her

whistleblower case. As shown below, SPIVACK was pretending to be "Donna" to perpetrate the

fraud.

7. In early June 2020, VICTIM-l's children were alerted that there was a significant

amount of money missing from their mother's accounts. When confronted by her children,

VICTIM-l disclosed her belief that she was involved in a whistleblower investigation and was

trying to collect her reward money. On or about June 13,2020, "Donna" called VICTIM-l's cell

phone from 623-345-56872. VICTIM-l's children recorded the phone call VICTIM-l had with

"Donna", which was subsequently obtained and reviewed by law enforcement. In it, the voice of

"Donna" appears to be digitally altered. Although "Donna" presented herself as a government

agent, her full name was never revealed to VICTIM-I, nor did VICTIM-l ever meet with

"Donna" in person.

7. For a number of years, Victim-l was directed by SPIVACK, through the fictitious

"Donna", to make withdrawals from her investment accounts and was told that this was related

to her "work" as a whistle-blower. VICTIM-l was told by SPIV ACK/"Donna" to deposit these

2 The provider of this number is Ad Hoc Labs, dba, Burner. According to their website, Burner allows users to get

as many numbers as they want, use each as a private line on an iPhone or Android phone, and keep numbers

indefinitely or "bum" numbers they no longer need.

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funds into her Bank of America accounts, which she did. Thereafter, SPIVACK made or caused

to be made significant transfers of money from VICTIM-l 's bank accounts to SPIVACK's Bank

of America and Wells Fargo accounts from mid- 2017 to the present. VICTIM-l believed the

money was being used to further the whistleblower case so that she would be entitled to the

whistleblower reward. On occasion, VICTIM-l was told that actions needed to be undertaken in

a foreign country, to justify the need for the money.

8. From at least 2017 to as recently as June 2020, SPIVACK caused over $2.4

million in electronic transactions from the Victim-l's bank accounts to bank accounts in the

name of SPIVACK, or an entity called Med Safety Corporation, which are controlled by

SPIVACK. Approximately $567,000 was transferred from VICTIM-l to SPIVACK's Bank of

America personal account from April 2017 through February 2018. Records from Bank of

America indicate that this account is in the name of "Jeffrey Spivack", with an address of

SPIVACK's residence in Miami, Florida. Approximately $49,525 was transferred from

VICTIM-l's accounts to the "Med Safety Corp" Bank of America account between October

2018 and June 2020. Records from Bank of America show that Jeffrey Spivack controls the

Med Safety Corp. bank account, which also lists SPIVACK's residence in Miami, Florida as the

address of record. The same email address is listed in both account records, although two

different telephone numbers are listed for the Med Safety account and for the Jeffrey SPIVACK

account.

9. Approximately $1,859,500 was transferred from VICTIM-l's bank accounts to

Wells Fargo account XXXXXX6066 from April 2017 to February 2020 via wire transfers. The

wire transfers list the recipient name of Jeff Spivack, Med Safety Corp, or Jeff SpivackiMed

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Safety Corp. According to representatives of Wells Fargo, account XXXXXX6066 is controlled

by SPIVACK. Victim-l did not initiate these wire transfers.

10. Records from Bank of America and AT&T show that SPIVACK's Bank of

America personal and Med Safety Corp. bank accounts were accessed from his home IP address

(IP Address 107), using the same device, to wit, an Apple iPhone. Bank of America records also

show that the same device (an Apple iPhone) was used to access Victim-l's Bank of America

account online. However, VPN IP addresses3 were used to connect to Victim-l's Bank of

America accounts. At least two of these VPN IP addresses were also used to access SPIVACK's

Bank of America bank accounts, again, from the same iPhone device. This leads your affiant to

conclude, that while SPIVACK usually used his AT&T account (IP address 107) to access his

personal and Med Safety bank accounts online, he was careful to use a harder-to-trace VPN

address when accessing Victim-l's account online. On a few occasions, SPIVACK accessed his

personal and Med Safety Corp Bank of America accounts from the same VPN IP addresses.

11. On or about July 13,2020, Victim-I faxed a letter to SPIVACK. Thereafter, on

July 17, VICTIM-l received a text from (541) 209-63734, a number that VICTIM-I had not

previously communicated with. In the text, VICTIM-l was told, in part, "All communication

should now be directed to this number. Text only, no voice calls possible. Will arrange phone

call as soon as possible." In a second text, VICTIM-l was told "You should also avoid sending

letters or anything else to Jeffs fax or email unless specifically requested. There's good news

3 A VPN, or Virtual Private Network, connects a person's computer, smartphone or tablet to another server on the

internet (a VPN server) and allows you to browse the internet or send communications using that server's internet

connection. Therefore, a VPN user can achieve some anonymity online because by using the VPN server and it's IP

address, the VPN user can hide hislher true location (or IP address.)

4 The provider of this number is also Ad Hoc Labs, dba, Burner.

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and bad news, which is very bad unless handled quickly, but you will understand everything

after the telephone briefing. Be ready for phone call over the next few days. Until then do not

discuss with anyone."

12. On July 23, 2020, VICTIM-l received a call from SPIVACK, acting as "Donna"

from 541-209-6375, which was recorded and has been reviewed by law enforcement. "Donna"

referenced the recent fax VICTIM-l sent to "Jeff'. "Donna" told VICTIM-l that "her boss" was

not happy because her boss found out what "Donna" had been doing to help VICTIM-l "Donna"

told VICTIM-l that her boss wanted to "send a team to silence you and your family," and that the

boss would make it look "like COVID." "Donna" said that Jeffused to work for her boss. "Donna"

said that she and Jeff were able to convince the boss to give VICTIM-I more time because Jeff

agreed "to work on some operations for my boss", "off the books", "unsanctioned" and "very

risky." "Donna" repeated that this was the only thing that saved her (VICTIM-I) and her family

and that Jeff agreed to do this and that he is taking an enormous risk. " Donna" also claimed that

Attorney-IS was fabricating evidence to put VICTIM-I and her daughter at risk of federal criminal

prosecution. "Donna" warned "Your life and your freedom are at risk." "Donna" claimed that she

located some of the ex-husband's assets "overseas" and that her boss gave her six months "to get

this wrapped up, or I'm gonna be 'retired'." "Donna" explained that by retired, she did not mean

she would get retirement gifts and a cake, but that "no one's ever gonna hear from me again." So

she was "highly motivated to get this wrapped up in your favor."

13. SPIVACK/"Donna" went on to explain that the only way to get out of jeopardy

was for VICTIM-I to withdraw $350,000 from an investment account, keep $100,000 to pay her

5 Attorney-l was the attorney for Victim-l's ex-husband.

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expenses and send "Donna" $250,000 of that money. "Donna" pressed VICTIM-I to have the

investment company "Fed Ex you a check today." "Donna" argued with VICTIM-I about how

much funds VICTIM-l had remaining, and claimed that she knew VICTIM-l had a large amount

of money in that investment account.

14. On July 24th, SPIVACK/"Donna" texted VICTIM-l from 541-209-6373, stating

"Make sure you initiate withdrawal of $350,000 today and have them send it via FedEx. Do not

let them stall you, and you don't have to explain. This is urgent to get what you need. Please

acknowledge." In another text, "Donna" insinuated that Jeff was almost injured in a "close cali",

and wrote, "The sooner this is all taken care of, the safer everyone will be."

15. On Monday, July 27th, SPIVACK/"Donna" texted VICTIM-I, inquiring about the

status of the $350,000 withdrawal. This time, "Donna" told VICTIM-l to have the investment

company issue her two checks, one for $100,000 and another for $250,000. "Donna" wrote, "No

matter what, they need to process the disbursements today and send to you by FedEx so you can

deposit tomorrow." "Donna" claimed that there was a "close call" over the weekend, but that "it

was resolved without injury", insinuating that she and Jeff were risking their safety to help

VICTIM-I. "Donna" wrote, "Things are getting very dangerous, so it's urgent that this is all

resolved ASAP."

16. On July 31, 2020, agents executed search warrant 20-8270-BER issued by the

U.S. Magistrate Judge Bruce E. Reinhart, which authorized the search of SPIVACK's residence

in Miami. The search warrant authorized the seizure and search, inter alia, of computers and cell

phones used to commit the alleged offenses. During the execution of the search warrant, agents

found SPIVACK's Apple iPhone, which was found to contain the Burner app, and the above

described text messages between "Donna" and Victim-I. The phone also has an app for VPN

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connections, and numerous banking apps, including those from Wells Fargo and Bank of

America. The phone also contained an app called "Fake Caller", which enables a user to choose

a voice changer feature and the ability to select a gender.

17. Based on the foregoing, I respectfully submit there is probable cause that Jeffrey

SPIVACK committed the offenses of Wire Fraud, in violation of Title 18 U.S.C. §1343, and

Extortion by Interstate Communications, in violation of 18 U.S.C. §87S(b).

FURTHER YOUR AFFIANT SAYETH NAUGHT.

William E. JohnsoJlSPeCi;l1AgeJr

Federal Bureau ofInvestigation

Sworn and Attested to me by Applicant

by Telephone (FaceTime) per the

requirements of Fed. R. Crim. P. 3 and 4.1

on the __ day of July, 2020.

BRUCE E. REINHART

UNITED STATES MAGISTRATE JUDGE

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