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| Inmate Gets 14 Years for Scamming Elderly |
| By The Detroit News |
| Published: 11/12/2001 |
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Edwin David Wood, 62, who bilked $3 million from elderly people around the nation from his prison cell, will now spend his golden years behind bars. U.S. District Judge Gordon J. Quist recently sentenced Wood to 14 years in prison and ordered him to pay $570,000 in restitution to two of his victims. Wood was convicted earlier this year on 21 counts of mail and wire fraud and money laundering in connection with the operations of First Financial Acceptance Co. Inc., a Battle Creek company he founded and ran from 1989 to 1994 while he was serving time at the federal penitentiary in Milan for counterfeiting. With the help of two outside accomplices, Wood incorporated First Financial in Delaware and opened an office in Battle Creek. Hiding behind an alias of 'Ed Alwood' and using prison pay phones, Wood directed the company's investment schemes. Wood and his accomplices attracted victims by placing advertisements in major newspapers and financial publications. He would call First Financial at prearranged times and a secretary would patch through his calls from the cellblock to prospective investors. He also dictated letters to the secretary, who would send them to investors. Wood was first convicted of embezzling nearly $500,000 from an employee benefit plan in 1981. He also was convicted of possession of stolen mail, making false statements to a credit union and interstate transportation of fraudulently obtained goods. An investigation by the Internal Revenue Service and the FBI resulted in the 21-count indictment earlier this year. Judge Quist also ordered that Wood's use of pay phones and the mail be supervised and limited. Wood also was fined $5,000 and faces three years of supervised probation upon his release. |
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