Federal prosecutors say a Washington man defrauded $2.7 million from Alaskans by leading residents here to think donations for the defendant's medical and lawsuit bills would yield substantial returns in the future.
Floyd Jay Mann Jr., 55, of Puyallup, Washington, is charged in a 19-count indictment filed in Anchorage last month and unsealed Thursday when Mann was arrested in his home state, according to federal court records.
His wife Cheryl Mann, 51, also a Puyallup resident, has been charged in Washington with a single count of defrauding the Social Security Administration.
Prosecutors allege Floyd Mann led his victims to believe he received a multimillion-dollar settlement from a class-action lawsuit with the pharmaceutical company Pfizer. He pretended the prescription drug Levaquin gave him cancer, according to the charges.
He told victims if they helped pay for his medical bills and lawsuit expenses, they'd get the money back plus a return on their investments when the settlement was released by the court, according to the charges.
The victim "investors" were primarily in Alaska, and Floyd Mann claimed the settlement money would not be released until he had a clean bill of health, according to the charges.
Additionally, they "were falsely told that the FBI and a private security firm were providing security for Mann because of the large amount of money involved and because Pfizer wanted Mann killed," the charges say.
Floyd Mann did not use the victims' money to pay medical bills and there was no lawsuit settlement — he used the money to gamble at a Washington casino, according to a statement from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Alaska.
The defendant won $1 million while gambling at the casino with the illegally obtained money, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Aunnie Steward. His game of preference was slot machines, she said.
Steward declined to comment about why Floyd Mann chose to target Alaskans, citing the ongoing case.
Cheryl Mann's Washington case centers on allegations by the government that she and her son received about $56,000 in federal benefits while Floyd was garnering income from his scheme and gambling.
The wife also won about $125,000 from a casino, money that went unreported, which disqualified the Manns from getting public assistance, prosecutors said.
Floyd Mann faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine or both, if convicted. Cheryl Mann could get five years incarceration for her alleged crime.
Floyd Mann is currently detained in Washington. He has a hearing there next week to determine whether he will be released and travel to Alaska on his own or be transported by the government for a Sept. 22 hearing in Anchorage, Steward said.