A US federal jury has convicted three men in connection with an international fraud operation that used hacked emails to defraud more than 1,000 victims of approximately $215 million (£168 million).
Oluwafemi Michael Awoyemi, 40, from Romeoville, Illinois, Aruan Drake, 37, from Atlanta, Georgia, and Peter Reed, 35, from Oak Forest, Illinois, were found guilty of wire fraud conspiracy following a four-day trial in Toledo, Ohio, on 24 April. Awoyemi and Drake were also convicted of money laundering conspiracy. US District Judge James R. Knepp II presided over the case.
In total, 25 defendants have been convicted for their roles in the fraud and money laundering scheme, commonly known as a “business email compromise” (BEC).
Court documents show that the conspiracy, linked to Nigerian fraud organisations, targeted email accounts belonging to individuals, businesses and organisations in the United States and abroad. After gaining access, the fraudsters monitored communications to learn about the victims’ business practices and contacts. They then sent sophisticated fraudulent emails requesting payments that appeared to be for legitimate transactions.
Once the payments were obtained, the funds were laundered through a network of fraudulently created bank accounts and cash transfer services. Approximately $50 million of the stolen money was processed through the New Dolton Currency Exchange, a Chicago-area money service business owned by co-defendant Lon Goodman. He is accused of accepting cashier’s cheques presented with false identification or made payable to others, routinely ignoring bank warnings that the funds were fraudulent, and later routing cheques through shell companies controlled by the conspirators.
In Ohio, victim businesses were located in Norwalk, Kent, Akron, Hudson, Maple Heights, Westfield Center, New Riegel and Greenwich. Victims were also identified in 46 other US states and in 19 countries, including Canada, Mexico, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia, Panama and Romania.
The wire transfers sent by victims ranged from tens of thousands to millions of dollars. In one case, a business sent $2.7 million to a shell company bank account controlled by the conspirators.
Items seized or subject to forfeiture included nearly $1.2 million in cashier’s cheques, cryptocurrency and cash, together with three luxury watches – a Patek Philippe Nautilus valued at $45,000, an Audemars Piguet Royal Oak worth $30,000 and a Richard Mille Felipe Massa watch valued at $140,000 – and a 4,423-square-foot residence in Lawrenceville, Georgia.
In addition to the three men convicted at trial, 22 other defendants pleaded guilty to wire fraud conspiracy and money laundering conspiracy. They include Ayobami Osas Christopher (also known as Lovely Man), 30, of Lawrenceville, Georgia; Emmanuel Okereke (also known as Omo Igbo), 42, a Nigerian national living in Atlanta; Olalekan Bashiru (also known as Ola Bash), 36, a Nigerian national in Chicago; and Lon Goodman, 69, of Whiting, Indiana, among others.
Sentencing for all 25 defendants will be determined later by the court after considering factors such as each individual’s prior criminal record, role in the offence and other case-specific characteristics.
The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Cleveland Division, the US Postal Inspection Service and the US Border Patrol Sandusky Bay Intelligence Unit. Assistant US Attorneys Gene Crawford and Robert Melching led the prosecution for the Northern District of Ohio.
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