The U.S. Department of Justice announced that a Florida man pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud for creating and depositing about USD 14 million in unauthorized checks into bank accounts held by sham U.S. companies. The scheme transferred funds from victims’ bank accounts without their authorization. The defendant used lists supplied by a client in Canada that falsely represented that thousands of people and businesses had made purchases from the sham companies and authorized account debits. Sentencing is scheduled for Nov. 5, and he faces a maximum prison term of 20 years.