The DOJ has charged nine members of a multi-state money laundering organization (“MLO”) for their roles in a $20 million conspiracy.
According to the indictment, since approximately November 2016, Samson A. Omoniyi, Misha L. Cooper, Robert A. Cooper, Carlesha L. Perry, Whitney D. Bardley, Lauren O. Guidry, Caira Y. Osby, Dazai S. Harris, Edward D. Peebles (“Defendants”) and their unknown co-conspirators engaged in a money laundering scheme through internet fraud and business email compromise schemes (“BEC” schemes). Through BEC schemes, the Defendants and their co-conspirators targeted companies that routinely conducted business through wire transfers and spoofed employees of the victim companies to gain access to their email accounts, engage with their customers, and intercept business transactions. In turn, the MLO would receive wire transactions intended for the victim companies.
Since November 2016, this MLO has intercepted business transactions from at least 12 companies in the United States and abroad. Defendants and co-conspirators rerouted customer payments to various “money mules” who held sham company bank accounts in their names that were ultimately controlled by the MLO. According to the indictment, in March 2022, Defendants’ unknown co-conspirators gained access to a financial services employee’s email account and intercepted a $319,902.56 wire from a customer of the financial services company. In November 2021, a similar incident occurred which led to the inception of a $250,000 wire intended for an accountant company. The MLO has allegedly received and laundered more than $20 million as a result of BEC schemes. The Defendants, all from Texas and Tennessee, were charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering and face a maximum of 20 years in federal prison if convicted.
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