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ST. GEORGE — A couple running a gun and ammunition shop was arrested and indicted after FBI investigators say they took money donated to send support supplies to Ukraine, but instead spent it on parties, shopping and cash withdrawals.
John Earl Donaldson, 31, and his wife, Carlie Elizabeth Winters, 29, of Saratoga Springs, are each charged with wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy, according to an indictment unsealed Monday.
They are accused of defrauding customers and financial firms of more than $600,000, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office of Utah.
Donaldson was a federal law enforcement officer before working as a consultant for a private security company, according to his LinkedIn profile.
The couple ran a company called Urban Armz, which state records show was started in late 2020 with Donaldson as its registered agent. Their website falsely claimed that the "company clients" included the FBI and the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency, according to court documents, and claimed they could "sell large quantities of ammunition to potential customers for competitively low prices."
When a customer wired $90,000 to the company for 300,000 rounds of ammo in December 2021, investigators say the company never delivered.
In April 2022, charging documents say a Detroit based company paid Urban Armz $300,000 for body armor, while another nonprofit sent over $217,000 for "night vision goggles, thermal optics and other equipment" — both orders intended for Ukrainian first responders in war zones.
Neither order made it to Ukraine, according to the indictment, with Donaldson and Winters spending over $600,000 from the three orders on "unrelated parties, other withdrawals, shopping and transfers to personal accounts."
The two told each company that orders were delayed, sometimes blaming the shipping company or customs, before going silent, according to court documents.
