Naples man pleads guilty to $2.2 million fraud scheme

FORT MYERS, Fla. – A 49-year-old Naples man pleaded guilty in federal court on Thursday to 14 counts of wire fraud and five counts of aggravated identity theft, the U.S. Department of Justice said.

Jeffrey Ihm, who potentially faces up to 30 years in prison, will also have to repay $2.2 million in proceeds made from the scheme.

Ihm posed as an executive for a number of companies, including CSX Corporation, and generated fraudulent emails and documents in the name of real company executives to defraud financial institutions, federal prosecutors said. Ihm then used the money to purchase property and “other personal enrichment,” prosecutors said.

Authorities arrested Ihm on the charges in 2015, just two weeks after he finished three years of probation for other fraud-related activity.