Gun business owners used funds meant to aid Ukraine to go shopping, feds say
A couple who own an online gun store based in Utah never delivered hundreds of thousands of dollars in purchases, including some meant for Ukraine, federal authorities say.
John Earl Donaldson, 31, and Carlie Elizabeth Winters, 29, of Saratoga Springs, face charges of wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Utah said in an April 15 news release.
They are accused of fraudulently obtaining more than $600,000 from customers through Urban Armz, which claimed to have a store in St. George, Utah, but did not, prosecutors said.
“In addition, the website falsely claimed that ‘company clients’ included the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency,” according to an indictment filed in federal court.
The couple spent a December 2021 payment of $90,000 for 300,000 rounds of ammunition on shopping, credit card payments and other expenses, prosecutors said.
In April 2022, a customer paid Urban Armz $300,000 for body armor for Ukraine first responders in war zones, but the store never delivered the armor, federal officials said.
A June 2022 payment of $217,000 raised by Ukrainian Americans to buy night-vision goggles and other gear for Ukraine also was misspent, prosecutors said.
A federal grand jury indicted Donaldson and Winters on April 9, prosecutors said.
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