CEO impersonator sentenced to nearly 12 years in prison

NAPLES — A Naples man convicted of impersonating executives in Sarasota and Jacksonville to defraud a series of financial institutions of more than $2 million has been sentenced to nearly 12 years in federal prison.

Jeffrey Ihm, 49, also was ordered to pay $2.2 million in restitution to Wells Fargo Bank, CIT and Key Equipment Finance after being convicted of wire fraud and aggravated identity theft.

Additionally, Ihm will have to forfeit a Naples home purchased with proceeds from the scam and $315,000 seized from a credit union checking account that officials say stemmed from the fraud.

Between February 2013 and July 2014, Ihm posed as executives and then used those aliases to defraud financial institutions of $2.23 million via wire transfers to accounts he controlled.

The FBI's Jacksonville office, together with the U.S. Secret Service's Fort Myers office traced the fraud back to computers belonging to Ihm in Naples. The Collier County Sheriff's Office's Economic Crimes Unit also assisted in the investigation.