A 52-year-old woman from Castle Rock is facing federal charges after allegedly scamming victims out of $3.4 million using a fake online identity, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Colorado.
Lori Ann Kimball has been indicted on 24 federal charges, including one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and 23 counts of money laundering. Prosecutors allege that between January 2023 and February 2025, Kimball carried out a “pig butchering” scheme — a growing form of online fraud where scammers build trust with victims over time before persuading them to invest increasing sums of money, often in cryptocurrency, and then vanish with the funds.
The indictment states Kimball received money via checks, wire transfers, and virtual currency. Despite multiple warnings from law enforcement and third parties about the legality of her actions, she allegedly continued operating the scheme and took steps to hide the money.
Prosecutors said Kimball moved most of the funds into cryptocurrency wallets held by people overseas, created a Colorado business to open bank accounts, and misled financial institutions by falsely claiming she was a bitcoin dealer. At one point, she allegedly controlled at least 20 bank accounts and nine cryptocurrency accounts.
Kimball is scheduled for arraignment in federal court in Denver on Wednesday, with a trial set for December. The Internal Revenue Service is leading the investigation.
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