A man indicted nearly six years ago in connection with a Jamaican lottery scam has been arrested, according to an announcement from U.S. Attorney Thomas C. Albus.
Christopher Gibbon, 54, was first charged by complaint in U.S. District Court in St. Louis on July 26, 2018. He was later indicted in December 2019 on one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud and bank fraud, four counts of mail fraud, and one count of bank fraud.
According to the indictment, between December 1, 2016, and July 2018, Gibbon participated in a scheme where victims were contacted by phone and email and falsely told they had won the lottery. The victims were then instructed to send money to cover taxes on their supposed winnings. The indictment states that Gibbon received payments from at least four victims and forwarded some of the funds to co-conspirators in Jamaica. In one case cited in the indictment, a resident of North Carolina sent $50,000 to Gibbon’s address.
A motion seeking Gibbon’s detention until trial alleges that on July 20, 2018—less than two days after being interviewed by U.S. Postal Inspectors—Gibbon told his wife he was going to work but did not arrive or return home.
The motion further states that Gibbon was living with a girlfriend in Springfield, Massachusetts under the name Raseqhenre Heedram but wore a name tag reading Amos Johnson when he was arrested by Postal Inspectors in Connecticut on August 28, 2025.
Gibbon will be returned to Missouri and has been ordered detained until trial.
It is noted that charges set forth in an indictment or criminal complaint are accusations only; every defendant is presumed innocent unless proven guilty.
“This arrest proves the resolve and relentless pursuit Postal Inspectors have in bringing those who defraud victims to justice,” stated Inspector in Charge Ruth Mendonça of the Chicago Division of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, which includes the St. Louis Field Office. “I commend our local, state, and federal partners who assisted in this case and arrest.”
The investigation involved the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the U.S. Marshals Service Jamaica Foreign Field Office and the Connecticut Organized Financial Fraud Task Force. Assistant U.S. Attorney Tracy Berry is prosecuting the case.
