An indictment has been handed down to Ivan Isho, 41, of Phoenix, Arizona charging him with wire fraud, impersonation of a federal officer and cyberstalking, U.S. Attorney McGregor W. Scott announced on Tuesday.

Court documents indicate that Isho defrauded a Ceres couple between September 2016 and April 2017 by posing as a special agent with the FBI. He told them that that as an FBI agent he could help them acquire visas for three family members overseas. The U.S. District Court in Fresno said Isho showed counterfeit FBI credentials when he met with them in their Ceres home on Sept. 27, 2016 to pull off his scheme. Isho allegedly had the couple pay him over $6,700 to facilitate for such things as airline tickets and background checks during what they thought to be a legitimate transaction. During the 2016 Thanksgiving holiday, Isho showed the couple a handgun and claimed to have a gun strapped to his ankle to advance his ruse.

Some of the money was transmitted to Isho through Walmart’s money transmission service, Ria Financial.

In return the couple lost their money and no visas were processed.

The victims are only identified in the indictment as “A.D. and S.D.”

“At all times, in carrying out the scheme, defendant Ivan Isho acted with intent to defraud,” read the indictment authored by U.S. Attorney McGregor Scott and assistant U.S. Attorney Kirk E. Sherriff.

The indictment claims that for two years – from April 2016 to April 2018, Isho harassed another victim over the phone, internet and social media in a manner likely to cause substantial emotional duress to the victim.

Isho faces a maximum statutory penalty of 28 years in prison and a $750,000 fine if he is convicted.

According to the Department of Justice, any sentence would be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.