Twenty people from Youngstown indicted laundering $16 million obtained through computer hacking and

[nitpicker]

https://www.justice.gov/usao-ndoh/pr/twenty-people-youngstown-indicted-laundering-16-million-obtained-through-computer

Department of Justice
U.S. Attorney’s Office
Northern District of Ohio

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, August 23, 2017

Twenty people from Youngstown indicted laundering $16 million obtained through computer hacking and other fraud

Twenty people from the Youngstown area were indicted for their roles in a conspiracy to launder $16 million obtained through computer hacking and other fraud, law enforcement officials said. Indicted are: Julius Smith Williams, 46; Jamal Perry, 37; Joseph Joe III, 40; William Howell, 47; Terry Marlowe, 53; Emmett Conner, 44; Sterling Green, 47; Keisha Johnson, 32; Kayla Neeley, 29; Isiah Patterson, 29; Donald Washington, Jr., 43; Terrance Phillips, 41; Steve Croom, Jr., 40; Crystal Jefferson, 39; Dulcinea Purdue, 32; Terrance Howard, 43; Cobie Phillips, Jr., 41; Ray Wynn, 43; Jermaine Donlow, 45, and Semira Stone, 29. They are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and bank fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The defendants are accused of working as conspirators in an international fraud organization with conspirators operating from Canada, Africa and other parts of the United States. These 20 defendants were recruited and managed by a mid-level operator identified in court documents as Z.H. He operated in and around Youngstown, Columbus and Atlanta. Working at Z.H.’s direction, the defendants established shell companies and business bank accounts used to receive and launder at least $16 million obtained through various fraud schemes, according to the indictment.

The larger conspiracy involved several different fraud schemes designed to dupe unsuspecting law firms, businesses and people to think they were engaging in legitimate business or financial transactions when, in fact, they were not. These schemes often involved computer hacking, spoofed emails and computer takeovers, according to the indictment.

Z.H. provided the conspirators in Canada and elsewhere with the numbers and other information about the accounts opened by the defendants. The victim funds were transferred into the bank accounts. Then the defendants, working at Z.H.’s direction, transferred the fraudulently obtained money out of the accounts, typically in multiple smaller transactions designed to conceal the source of the proceeds and hinder efforts to recover the money, according to the indictment. The defendants shared in the proceeds of the fraud schemes, typically commensurate with their respective roles, according to the indictment. Ten other people have already pleaded guilty to criminal informations for their roles in the conspiracy.
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[John1956PA]

1. Last month, in nearby neighboring Western Pennsylvania, the Feds issued similar indictments.

Here is a link to a report in one one of those Western Pennsylvania cases:

http://pittsburgh.cbslocal.com/2017/07/24/money-laundering-scheme-retired-couple/

From the report at the above link:

PITTSBURGH (KDKA) — Two men from Ghana who are now living in western Pa. are accused in a very complex theft and money laundering scheme. The charges come after federal agents raided two homes and one business on Friday.

An investigation over a year long, FBI agents, ICE agents, and Homeland Security agents carried out three raids. They had warrants to search 606 Fordham Street in Brookline, 140 Marlene Drive in Beaver Falls and Remy Tire Mart in Aliquippa.

Nathanael Nyamekye owns Remy Tire Mart. He and Ismail Shitu are facing federal criminal charges for allegedly laundering money from a fraudulent real estate sale, where a retired couple from Gaithersburg, Md. was cheated out of $411,548.06 in a very complicated scheme.

. . .

I am surprised that sophisticated, conspiracy-based criminals have targeted this economically struggling region, from which many younger people move away any in which many of the remaining citizens are wary of new arrivals born outside of the United States.