California man arrested for stealing $300K from RI town

A California man was indicted in federal court on Wednesday after he allegedly participated in multiple scams that defrauded people, establishments, and the town of Bristol, Rhode Island out of nearly $9 million dollars, prosecutors said.

The Rhode Island U.S. Attorney’s office named Alec Tahir Baker, a resident of Corona, California, as a “key participant” in an email conspiracy and money laundering scam. 

The indictment alleges Baker, 60, was involved in a scam where someone would send phishing emails to individuals, businesses, and Town of Bristol email addresses. If opened, prosecutors said, the email allowed the scammers to access the recipient’s computer information. Then Baker, along with unnamed co-conspirators, would allegedly direct victims’ banks to transfer money into an account owned by Baker or other conspirators, the indictment said.

According to the indictment, Baker, along with the co-conspirators, allegedly defrauded individuals and businesses of at least $8,854,243. In addition, the indictment alleges that around $7,649,876 in fraudulent proceeds were transmitted to bank accounts under Baker’s control.

Baker also allegedly targeted Bristol through the scam, allegedly stealing more than $300,000 dollars from the town.

First charged through a criminal complaint on Nov. 1, the Attorney’s office said Baker was arrested in Dallas, Texas, on Nov. 5 and detained after his first appearance in U.S. District Court. 

He faces charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering, bank fraud, and two counts of aggravated identity theft, the indictment said. Federal prosecutors said he will be transported to Rhode Island to be arraigned on those charges at a “later date.”

Representation for Baker did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

California resident, along with alleged scam enterprise, allegedly defrauded Town of Bristol

The indictment alleges Baker and his co-conspirators used phishing emails to gain access to the Town of Bristol’s computer network in January of 2023. 

“The next day, a member of the conspiracy caused $310,500 to be wired from one of the Town’s bank accounts into a business account controlled by Baker, who then withdrew or transferred funds from that account and deposited the money into other accounts he controlled,” the Attorney’s office said.

Of that $310,500, Baker allegedly withdrew $75,000 from the town’s Citibank account with the note “Q1 salary” on Jan. 20, 2023, the indictment said. Three days later, he allegedly withdrew $144,700 from the same Citibank account and deposited it into a Chase account, the indictment said. Next, on Jan. 31, the indictment said he withdrew $89,169.87 from the Citibank account and put it in a cashiers’ check payable to Al Hujen Group, a US Bank account operated by Baker.

The indictment said one of the involved scammers would allegedly pose as vendors and email employees of the targeted companies. The scammer would give the employee fraudulent bank information and direct the employee to make payments to that new account, which was controlled by Baker or co-conspirators, the indictment alleged. 

According to the indictment, the targeted companies and individuals were located across the country.

The Town of Bristol did not immediately reply to a request for comment.

Eva Levin is a general assignment co-op for Boston.com. She covers breaking and local news in Boston and beyond.