Jaiswan faces 10 years in prison after using his rap platform to lead a $63 million mail theft and check fraud conspiracy targeting U.S. taxpayers.
JaiSwan had just been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison for orchestrating a $63 million scheme that had nothing to do with music and everything to do with stealing checks directly from the mail.
The 32-year-old Rochester Hills rapper, whose real name is Jaiswan Williams, used his platform and celebrity status to launch an operation that would be the envy of any crime boss except this one who was caught and now faces 122 months in prison.
Here’s how it works. Williams teamed up with Daquan Foreman, and together they recruited two U.S. Postal Service employees, Vanessa Hargrove and Crystal Jenkins, to steal checks directly from the mail system.
Hargrove and Jenkins would remove thousands of checks from the postal stream, including tax refund checks from the U.S. Treasury, and give them to Williams and Foreman in exchange for cash payments.
The stolen checks were then sold on Telegram through two channels with names that sounded like food delivery apps.
“Whole Foods Slipsss” promotes high-value checks, while “Uber Eats Slips” promotes lower-value checks. “Slip” is street lingo in the fraud world for a stolen check.
This operation was huge. According to the “Macomb Daily” report, more than 10,000 personal checks were sold through these Telegram channels, with a total face value of more than $63 million.
Buyers will use various electronic payment systems to purchase checks and then attempt to fraudulently cash them using different methods.
The whole thing operates like a legitimate market, except it’s entirely built on stolen federal property and taxpayer dollars.
Williams didn’t stop there. He also pleaded guilty to money laundering and admitted that he used stolen personal information on dozens of people to submit $1.5 million in fraudulent pandemic unemployment insurance claims between August and December 2020.
While out on bail awaiting sentencing, he even released a music video called “Out On Bond” in February, showing himself rapping in a prison uniform in front of a federal courthouse sealed. The footage serves as evidence of his arrogance.
Federal prosecutors are not backing down. “Jaswann Williams used his platform as a rapper and his celebrity status to extort American taxpayers,” said U.S. Department of Labor Inspector General Anthony D’Esposito. “These crimes will not be tolerated.”
The IRS Criminal Investigation team added their own perspective.
“Check theft is not a victimless crime,” said Special Agent in Charge Karen Wingard. “Stolen checks belong to citizens and help them pay for important services or help them get through a difficult time.”
His co-conspirators received lighter sentences. Foreman was sentenced to 48 months in prison, Hargrove was sentenced to 12 months and one day, and Jenkins was detained for just one day, followed by three years of supervised release.
U.S. District Judge Judith E. Levy sentenced all four defendants. The case, one of the largest mail theft conspiracies involving entertainment figures, highlights how celebrity status can be a tool for federal crime rather than legal success.
