Deer Park resident sentenced for running unlicensed financial scheme involving $2.3 million check

Nov 12, 2025 · Sourced to the U.S. Department of Justice

This case reached the sentenced stage in the Department of Justice's public record. Everything below reflects only what the government itself announced, and links to the original release.

A 66-year-old man has been ordered to federal prison for operating an illegal money transmitting business

District

Southern Texas

Announced

Nov 12, 2025

Status

Sentenced

Defendants

Bobby Charles Lee Sr. — age 66 · Deer Park · sentenced

Charges

Operating an unlicensed money transmitting business
Bobby Charles Lee Sr.· pleaded guilty

Financial actions

restitution — Restitution to two victims in specific amounts to be determined
seizure — Cadillac vehicle purchased with proceeds of counterfeit $2.3 million U.S. Treasury check
seizure: $2.1 million — Recovered approximately $2.1 million that remained from the fraudulent funds

From the announcement

“most outrageous”

— Kenneth Hoyt, U.S. District Court Judge, U.S. District Court

“at your age, you still have not come home to right”

— Kenneth Hoyt, U.S. District Court Judge, U.S. District Court

Investigating agencies

Internal Revenue Service Criminal InvestigationTreasury Inspector General for Tax AdministrationFederal Bureau of InvestigationDeer Park Police DepartmentU.S. Attorney's Office

Case details

Prosecuting office: Southern District of Texas
Judge: Kenneth Hoyt, U.S. District Court Judge

Asset Seizure And RecoveryContinued Criminal Conduct On BondCounterfeit Treasury Check FraudFederal Sentencing And Supervised ReleaseMulti-Agency InvestigationSuspicious And Fraudulent Financial TransactionsUnlicensed Money Transmitting Business

Primary source

Every fact above is drawn from the Department of Justice's own announcement — a public-domain government record.

Read the original DOJ release →

This is a research and reference page compiled from public DOJ announcements, not legal advice. Details reflect the government's statements as of its release date and may not capture later developments such as appeals, dismissals, or overturned convictions. Defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.