Tennessee Man Sentenced to Five Years for Wire Fraud, Money Laundering, and Making a False Claim to the IRS

Ocala, Florida - Clarence Christofer Ward, a/k/a Khaled Yaqud Mansur-El, has been sentenced by U.S. District Judge Thomas P. Barber to five years in federal prison for 1 count of wire fraud, 10 counts of money laundering, and 1 count of making a false claim to the IRS. As part of the sentence, the court ordered Ward to forfeit $4,197,981.28 in proceeds derived from his wire fraud offense. The court also ordered the forfeiture of Ward's interest in four residential properties in Chattanooga, Tennessee, which were purchased with approximately $1,584,300 in fraud proceeds and were involved in money laundering. U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe made the announcement.

A federal grand jury indicted Ward on April 30, 2024. He subsequently was found guilty of all charges after a two-day jury trial in September 2025.

According to the evidence presented at trial, in November 2020, Ward electronically filed a tax return on behalf of a trust in his name in which he falsely claimed on the return that his trust had paid over $7 million in taxes to the IRS in 2019. Ward claimed on the tax return that he needed a $4.1 million refund from the IRS. Despite Ward's claim, IRS records show Ward's trust has never paid any federal taxes. Before the IRS realized that Ward's claim was untrue, however, the agency issued a $4.1 million refund. Ward immediately spent the money, purchasing four residential properties and a luxury automobile. He also invested some of the money in brokerage accounts.

"Ward may have been able to fool the IRS into releasing a tax refund through his bogus tax claims," said Ron Loecker, Special Agent in Charge of IRS Criminal Investigation, Florida Field Office. "However, tax fraud carries significant criminal penalties, and Ward was justifiably sentenced to prison for his crimes.

This case was investigated by the IRS - Criminal Investigation. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Hannah Nowalk Watson. The forfeiture is being handled by Assistant United States Attorney Jennifer Harrington.