A North Carolina woman – who, police said, acted as a liaison for laundered money from her catfishing Thailand-living girlfriend’s crude oil sales business – faces numerous felony theft charges after allegedly hacking into a Lower Gwynedd Township paving company’s email and successfully putting herself on its payroll.
Joyce Ruple Wilson, 59, of Beaufort, was charged June 2 with two felony each of proceeds dealing in unlawful activity, theft by deception, and theft by unlawful taking, according to court records. Wilson is free on bond, posted same day, per court records. Her bail was set by District Judge Suzan Leonard at $25,000 unsecured.
Wilson told police she became romantically involved two years ago with a woman online, who claimed to be an expat living in Thailand. They had never met in person, and only spoke to each other through the Internet, police said.
Wilson told police the woman in Thailand was involved in “crude oil sales,” and when she would broker a deal, the payee would send money directly to Wilson’s account to avoid customs fees, the report states.
Wilson, in turn, would wire money to the woman in Thailand via Cashapp or blank money orders, police said.
The investigation began on March 22, when the owner of Monster Paving Inc. called police to report an unauthorized, one-time direct deposit payment of $13,800 to an unknown “employee” named Joyce Wilson. Payroll is handled by a third-party company called Accupay, police said.
When the owner learned of the situation, police said he did some investigating of his own. The owner said he discovered that someone hacked into his email and sent several emails to Accupay under his identity. Via emails, someone registered Joyce Wilson as an employee of the paving company by filling out an Accupay payroll form and a W-9 request for a Taxpayer Identification Number, police said.
It was all there – a Social Security Number, a Wells Fargo checking account and a payee, all owned by Wilson, police said.
Police said Wilson opened the bank account on March 27, 2019 in Morehead City, North Carolina. All of her Social Security information on her bank account matched what was on the W-9 form, according to the complaint.
Police found that Wilson’s checking account showed a receipt of $13,800 from Monster Paving on March 22. The same day, $11,880 was withdrawn from the account, police said.
Lower Gwynedd Township Police got in contact with detectives at Beaufort Police Department in North Carolina, who conducted an interview with Wilson, the report states. Wilson admitted to receiving the money and then forwarding it, police said, and then she cooperated with the investigation.
Eventually, Wilson admitted she was not an employee of Monster Paving, was not an authorized payee of the company, and had no reason for taking money from the business, police said.
A preliminary hearing is set for July 1 before Leonard. She is represented by Christopher Koschier Esq. of Norristown.
Detectives with the Lower Gwynedd Police Department told North Penn Now that they believe there are more actors at play, and the investigation is ongoing.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause.
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