Bixby Man Pleads Guilty to Fraudulently Acquiring Almost $28,000 Worth of Commercial Products from a California Company

A man who attempted to fraudulently acquire more than $92,000 worth of commercial products from a California-based company pleaded guilty in federal court, announced U.S. Attorney Clint Johnson.

By the time the fraudulent activity was discovered, the defendant had obtained products valued at $27,991.01 without paying for them.

On Tuesday, Wayne Allen Baker, 53, of Bixby, pleaded guilty to wire fraud.

According to court documents, Baker admitted that he devised and carried out a scheme to defraud the national commercial products distributor, which sells plumbing supplies, waterworks and fire and fabrication products.

As part of his scheme, Baker told the company that he was acting on behalf of a corporation based out of Dallas, abbreviated in court documents as EMI. Baker altered EMI’s name by inserting a hyphen, thus making it appear legitimate. Baker then set up online accounts with the California company where he falsely represented that he was acting on behalf of EMI as their chief executive officer. Using the fraudulently created EMI accounts, Baker ordered products from the California company worth a total of $92,098.25 and directed the goods to be delivered to his residence in Bixby and to a separate location in Tulsa. Between April 14 and April 28, 2020, Baker submitted approximately 59 internet orders for the equipment items. Baker initially made the orders appear legitimate, in part, by making bogus partial online payments to the company. Ultimately, Baker only received a portion of the products that he fraudulently ordered.

The FBI, U.S. Secret Service, and Bixby Police Department conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Richard M. Cella is prosecuting the case.