Chief Executive Officer Of Steel Manufacturer Pleads Guilty In Connection With $66 Million Fraud Scheme

United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jay Clayton, announced the guilty plea of DEREK WACHOB for orchestrating a multi-year scheme to defraud individual investors, a bank, an investment firm, and at least two steel pipe distributors of at least $66 million. WACHOB pled guilty today to one count of wire fraud before U.S. District Judge J. Paul Oetken.

"Derek Wachob portrayed himself as a billionaire and accomplished CEO, but the success he projected was a fiction sustained by fraud," said U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton. "He defrauded victims-including some of his closest friends-of more than $66 million and used their money to bankroll a lifestyle of luxury cars, vacations homes, private jets, helicopters, and yachts. In New York, we celebrate ambition, hard work, and honest achievement. These are bedrock principles that fueled the growth of our great city. Fraudsters undermine those principles and erode the trust in the fairness of our society. Today's guilty plea sends a message that fraud will not be tolerated and ensures Wachob faces the consequences of his lies."

According to the charging documents and statements made in public filings and public court proceedings:

From at least in or about October 2022 through in or about August 2024, WACHOB-the Chief Executive Officer of a large manufacturer of steel pipes based in Sapulpa, Oklahoma ("Company-1")-engaged in a scheme to defraud individual investors, a bank, an investment firm, and at least two steel pipe distributors of at least $66 million. To obtain money from each of the victims, WACHOB lied and misled the victims by, among other things, falsely claiming to offer purported business opportunities based on future steel purchases that WACHOB pledged to make. WACHOB used these misrepresentations to take millions of dollars from even some of his closest friends. Instead of using the victims' money as promised, WACHOB spent the funds to maintain his extravagant lifestyle of expensive cars, vacation homes, private jets, helicopters, and yachts, and prop up Company-1, which was struggling financially and in debt.

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WACHOB, 53, of Sapulpa, Oklahoma, pled guilty to one count of wire fraud, which carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

The maximum potential sentence in this case is prescribed by Congress and provided here for informational purposes only, as any sentencing of the defendant will be determined by a judge. WACHOB is scheduled to be sentenced by Judge Oetken on November 17, 2026.

Mr. Clayton praised the outstanding work of the FBI. Mr. Clayton also thanked the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Oklahoma for its assistance.

The prosecution of this case is being handled by the Office's Complex Frauds and Cybercrime Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Danielle Kudla and Adam Sowlati are in charge of the prosecution.