A payment processing broker has been sentenced to three years in prison for helping sham merchants steal and attempt to steal $14 million from business bank accounts.
The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) says Jeremy Todd Briley, 47, of Happy Valley, Oregon, worked as a broker who helped merchants find payment processors in the United States.
According to court documents, Briley’s two biggest clients were fake companies that claimed to provide online marketing services to businesses.
Instead, authorities say the companies used fraudulent debits to pull money from victims’ bank accounts without authorization.
Prosecutors say the scheme caused more than $14 million in unauthorized debits and attempted debits.
From February 2017 to December 2023, Briley allegedly helped the sham companies obtain and maintain access to payment processors so they could continue processing the fraudulent transactions.
Authorities say Briley knew the companies were fraudulently debiting bank accounts.
Despite receiving repeated warnings that the debits were unauthorized, prosecutors say Briley helped conceal the companies’ activity.
Court documents also say Briley arranged for a payment processor to deceive banks by manipulating return rates tied to the fraudulent debits.
Briley pleaded guilty in April 2026 to one count of wire fraud.
In addition to his three-year prison sentence, Briley was ordered to serve three years of supervised release and forfeit $460,000 in fraud proceeds.
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