In a reported effort to curtail the laundering operations that fund online frauds, U.S. Attorney Matthew M. Graves, alongside the FBI's Washington Field Office, has unsealed an indictment against three individuals. Announced on September 4th, the three accused, Chidi Olujie, Jennifer Chibueze, and Jessica Nortey, are charged with conspiring to launder over $1 million. This money is the alleged proceeds from a variety of internet-based deceit, including romance scams and business email compromise schemes, as outlined in a release by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia.
As stated in the indictment, the trio engineered complex financial operations between 2016 and 2019. Acting Special Agent in Charge David Geist of the FBI's Criminal and Cyber Division remarked, "Online fraud schemes require people who are willing and able to launder the money stolen through these schemes." The accused reportedly stood as the financial linchpins, creating companies and bank accounts believed to funnel the proceeds of these scams, such as over $774,000 from an online romance deception and $140,000 siphoned directly from a victim's bank account, as per the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Olujie, Chibueze, and Nortey each face conspiracy to launder monetary instruments and aggravated identity theft charges. If convicted, the heavy weight of a maximum of 20 years in prison looms over the defendants for the money laundering counts, with the identity theft carrying an additional mandatory two-year sentence. "Today’s indictment reflects our commitment to aggressively prosecute the launderers whom we believe are enabling the fraudsters," said U.S. Attorney Graves in the pursuit of justice for the victims and to deter similar criminal activities in the future, as reported by the U.S. Attorney's Office.
The nefarious methods employed by the fraudsters routinely involved hacking into victim companies' communications, then expertly masquerading as legitimate business partners or romantic interests. The FBI's rigorous investigation led to the revelation that a single victim company was duped into sending over $37,000 to what they believed was a business transaction in 2019, as a result of an email compromise. All the while, the accused lingered in the shadows, allegedly manipulating these cash flows into their corrupted channels.
While these indictments represent formal accusations, it's important to remember that all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty. The case, spearheaded by the FBI’s Washington Field Office, is currently in the hands of the Fraud, Public Corruption, and Civil Rights Section of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, who seek to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law – the stage where the truth of these allegations will ultimately be tested.
