US authorities have sentenced a Brazilian citizen to 5 years in jail for his role in a money laundering conspiracy. The 49-year-old California resident pleaded guilty earlier in March 2022.
In late 2020, US authorities had investigated a series of thefts by individuals fraudulently portraying themselves as legitimate money couriers to employees of businesses. The perpetrators convinced the employees to collect and deliver the businesses’ cash-on-hand. Both large and small businesses lost nearly $300,000 as a result of this fraud.
On one occasion in December 2020, the convict collected $242,980 in fraud proceeds from two co-conspirators and performed several ATM transactions at different banks to deposit the funds into a funnel bank account in the name of a shell company. ATMs allowed him to perform these transactions without the need of showing identification. Thereafter, the fraud proceeds were transferred to another funnel bank account and, subsequently, overseas. The convict collected a commission for the laundered money. Within 5 months around these transactions, the convict laundered over $5.1 million in illicit proceeds from several criminal activities.
Source: US Department of Justice
