William Block: 75 Months for Fake 'Liberian Money' Investment Pitch, Then Accused of Doing It Again on Supervised Release

Case from 2013–2019 (U.S. Attorney's Office release: May 23, 2013; later developments are from court records and other sources cited below). Published on Scammers.com Oct. 16, 2026; case status is current as of that date.

William Block, formerly of Lake Forest, was sentenced on May 23, 2013, to 75 months in federal prison for an investment fraud scheme that took about $1.6 million from at least 20 people. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois announced the sentence [1]. Prosecutors said he promised returns of up to 300% in six months.

Later developments: After his release, the Probation Office reported that Block had broken a court order barring him from soliciting money. In one reported case, a man gave him $125,900 after Block told him he was owed $67.5 million from Liberia. The district court revoked Block's supervised release and sentenced him to 60 months. In 2019, the Seventh Circuit vacated that revocation because the lower court had lost jurisdiction, and it ordered his immediate release [2].

How the scheme worked

The Seventh Circuit drew these details from Block's plea agreement [2], and prosecutors described the scheme in their sentencing announcement [1]:

1. The story: Block told people he had a large sum, or in one case gold, coming to him from an outside source, usually somewhere in Africa.
2. The ask: He needed investors to put up money for fees and costs. His examples included fees to collect $17 million he said the Liberian government owed him, fees to bring gold to the United States from an African village, and fees to obtain a bequest of more than $30 million in New York.
3. The promise: Investors were told they would get large, quick returns. They put in amounts ranging from tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars from May 2002 to November 2008.
4. The spending: He spent the money on cigars, limousines, clothing, travel, wine and a private-plane trip to look at a yacht.

At sentencing, prosecutors also proved a separate 2007 bank fraud. Block used a $300,000 check he knew had bounced to obtain an official bank check, and spent the proceeds on cigars, a $2,600 watch, golf and payments to a girlfriend [1].

The sentence

William Block, 54 at sentencing, formerly of Lake Forest

• Plea: Block entered an Alford plea to eight wire fraud counts. That means he acknowledged the government could prove its case but did not admit guilt [2].
• Sentence: 75 months in prison, imposed by U.S. District Judge Harry Leinenweber. He was also ordered to forfeit about $1.6 million and pay about $1.9 million in restitution, which included the bank fraud [1].
• Release: He had been in custody since his November 2008 arrest, finished the prison term in April 2014 and began three years of supervised release. A special condition said he "shall not solicit money for ANY purpose" [2].

What happened on supervised release

According to the Seventh Circuit [2]:

• December 2015: Probation reported that someone had tried to wire Block about $41,000 and the bank stopped the transfer as suspected fraud. The court gave him a warning in February 2016.
• February 2017: Probation reported a further violation. Block allegedly told a man he was owed $67.5 million from Liberia and needed money for fees, and promised to donate millions to the man's employer, a Christian school in Chicago. The man wrote checks to Block's son totaling $125,900, using personal savings and a home-equity line of credit.
• Revocation and appeal: The district court revoked Block's supervised release and sentenced him to 60 months in prison. On April 15, 2019, the Seventh Circuit vacated that judgment and ordered his immediate release. It held that the court lacked jurisdiction because no warrant or summons had been issued before his supervised release term expired (927 F.3d 978, opinion issued June 20, 2019).

The appeals court's ruling turned on jurisdiction, not on whether the reported conduct happened.

Red flags

• "I'm owed millions from a foreign government, I just need help with the fees." This is the classic advance-fee story.
• Returns of 100% or more in months for paying someone else's "costs."
• Checks you're asked to make out to a relative instead of the person asking.

What to do

1. Never pay fees to unlock someone else's money, whether it's called an inheritance, a government debt or a gold shipment.
2. Check court records: search a person's name on PACER or CourtListener before investing.
3. Report it to the FBI at ic3.gov and the FTC at ReportFraud.ftc.gov.

Case status (as of Oct. 16, 2026)

Defendant	Court	Status as of Oct. 16, 2026	Source
William Block	N.D. Ill. (Judge Leinenweber), 08 CR 900; 7th Cir. No. 18-2128	Alford plea to eight wire fraud counts; sentenced May 23, 2013, to 75 months; completed term April 2014. Supervised release revocation (60 months) vacated for lack of jurisdiction; release ordered April 15, 2019	[1], [2]

Sources

1. U.S. Attorney's Office, Northern District of Illinois, "Former Lake County Man Sentenced To More Than Six Years In Prison For $1.6 Million Investment Fraud Scheme," May 23, 2013. https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndil/pr/former-lake-county-man-sentenced-more-six-years-prison-16-million-investment-fraud
2. U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit, United States v. William Block, 927 F.3d 978, June 20, 2019. https://storage.courtlistener.com/pdf/2019/06/20/united_states_v._william_block_2.pdf

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