The Department of Justice charged nine people on Wednesday with running a multi-state money laundering network that handled $20 million in internet fraud.
The nine defendants from Tennessee, Texas, and Missouri reportedly ran a money laundering organization since November 2016, according to a DOJ press release.
They were charged in the United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee in Nashville. The indictment was unsealed Wednesday.
“The defendants allegedly used sham and front companies to conceal the fraud proceeds and enrich the members of the conspiracy,” the US Attorney’s Office stated.
The defendants are accused of forming an organization that utilized “herders” to recruit and direct others known as “money mules” to launder money obtained through suspected online fraud against businesses and individuals in the United States and abroad.
They allegedly laundered more than $20 million earned through online fraud, including business email “compromise schemes,” since 2016, according to court records.
Unless proven guilty, the nine defendants face charges of conspiracy to launder money. If convicted, each faces a maximum sentence of 20 years.
Misha L. Cooper, 50; Robert A. Cooper, 66; Dazai S. Harris, 34; and Edward D. Peebles, 35, are all from Murfreesboro, Tennessee.
The defendants, Samson A. Omoniyi, 43; Carlesha L. Perry, 36; Lauren O. Guidry, 32; and Caira Y. Osby, 44, are Houston residents. Defendant Whitney D. Bardley, 30, lives in Florissant, Missouri.
The DOJ did not specify when the arrests took place, but a coordinated operation spanning Tennessee, Texas, and Missouri resulted in the apprehending of the offenders.
Agents from the FBI’s field offices in Nashville and Salt Lake City, as well as the Boise, Idaho-based resident agency, assisted the federal inquiry. The FBI’s forensic accountant assistance team also provided assistance.
Assistant United States Attorney S. Carran Daughtrey in Nashville, along with trial attorneys Kenneth Kaplan and Jasmin Salehi Fashami, are prosecuting the nine defendants’ cases.