Batavia Township resident Cody Winn has been indicted on more than 100 charges after allegedly scamming people out of more than $1 million, according to the Clermont County Sheriff’s Office.
The sheriff’s office reported Winn’s indictment on 62 charges of theft and 31 counts of telecommunications fraud. WCPO received a second indictment, increasing the total number of charges to 102.
The CCSO stated that $965,500 was originally stolen. The second indictment increased the total to more than $1 million.
According to the sheriff’s office, Winn posed as “Cody Clay” from Market Modern LLC.
According to the CCSO, someone in California reported the contact in which they were promised an investment opportunity and a full return within three months.
Carmy Michael contacted us and identified himself as the one who brought the charges to police.
Man indicted on over 100 charges for allegedly defrauding victims out of more than $1 million.
Michael contributed $25,000 to the building of an automated Amazon store, but the sheriff’s office reports that he saw no progress and was unable to contact anyone about the investment for months.
After receiving the report, the CCSO launched an investigation, which led them to Winn.
Deputies added that throughout the investigation, they discovered Winn was running a YouTube channel to promote his business concept to potential clients. He was in charge of collecting investor contributions and transferring them to a different global e-commerce company that operated in numerous countries, according to the CCSO.
According to many witnesses, Winn was involved in the operation from March to October 2023. Deputies claimed he failed to submit several investors’ funds and could not be reached for a refund.
According to CCSO, Winn allegedly stole from victims in multiple states, including:
- Arizona
- California
- Florida
- Georgia
- Kansas
- Kentucky
- Maryland
- Michigan
- New York
- North Carolina
- South Carolina
- South Dakota
- Texas
- Utah
- Virginia
- West Virginia
Michael claimed he made the bet after seeing one of Winn’s advertisements. However, he soon admitted that something was amiss.
“I received mail with a link to click that stated, ‘Click this link, and you will receive the package to get started. And I clicked the link, and there was Cody on it, laughing and saying, ‘Goodbye,’ before everything vanished,” Michael added.
According to Michael, an assistant prosecutor working on the case alerted the victims of the possibility of a plea offer. We asked Michael what he thought the punishment should be.
“Justice would be repaying us, full restitution, and at the same time, stopping him from doing that to other people,” he stated.
Winn’s next court appearance is scheduled for April 21.
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