By Winifred Momoh
If found guilty by the US authorities, Samson Omoniyi, a Nigerian living in the United States of America, who was detained with eight other people on suspicion of money laundering and fraud, could receive a 20-year jail sentence.
Late on Wednesday, the US Department of Justice’s Office of the Public Affairs signed a news release that said as much.
According to the statement, Omoniyi and his confederates were charged on Tuesday with conspiracy to commit money laundering after being arrested in three US counties.It also revealed that the defendants, who were presumed innocent until the court found them guilty, ran a money laundering organization to launder millions of US dollars in fraud earnings that were purportedly earned by deceiving multiple persons.
“An indictment was unsealed yesterday (Tuesday) in Nashville, Tennessee,” the statement said. Nine members of a multi-state money laundering organization are accused of laundering millions of dollars obtained through business email compromise schemes and other forms of online fraud. In a coordinated takedown involving three jurisdictions, the nine accused were taken into custody.
Samson A. Omoniyi, 43, of Houston; Misha L. Cooper, 50, of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Robert A. Cooper, 66 of Murfreesboro; Carlesha L. Perry, 36, of Houston; Whitney D. Bardley, 30 of Florissant, Missouri; Lauren O. Guidry, 32 of Houston; Caira Y. Osby, 44 of Houston; Dazai S. Harris, 34 of Murfreesboro; and Edward D. Peebles, 35, of Murfreesboro, were charged.
The defendants were part of a long-running money laundering organization that has been active in and around Tennessee, Texas, and the nation since about November 2016, as the indictment claims.
It further emphasized that the defendants exploited the structured organization as a front to benefit syndicate members and launder the money they made from their fraud.
In order to launder money gained from Internet scams that targeted individuals and businesses in the US and elsewhere, the conspirators reportedly set up the organization so that recruiters, or “herders,” sought out and guided participants, or “money mules.”In order to hide the scam proceeds and enrich the conspirators, the defendants allegedly created front companies and shams. It said, “The conspiracy allegedly agreed to launder over $20 million in fraud proceeds.
“The US Sentencing Guidelines stipulate that the maximum penalty for each defendant’s offense is 20 years in prison, according to the statement.If found guilty, each defendant may spend up to 20 years behind bars.
After taking into account the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and additional statutory considerations, a federal district court judge will decide on any sentence.
An accusation is all that an indictment is. “Until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law, all defendants are presumed innocent,” the statement said.
” Two Nigerians, Anthony Ibekie and Samuel Aniukwu, were convicted by a US federal jury to 30 years in prison combined for scamming several US residents out of $3,500,000, according to a Swage news on Tuesday.
The US Justice Department claims that the pair had tricked their victims into believing they had inherited large inheritances that needed to be claimed with some cash.
According to reports, the pair asked their victims to contribute money with the assurance that they would return it if the inheritances were claimed.
Additionally, it was observed that the pair engaged in romance scams, which involved developing love relationships with their victims and then requesting money from them once they had gained their trust.
