ATLANTA – In a brazen scheme to feed his greed, Malachi Mullings, 31, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, laundered over $4.5 million obtained from romance fraud scams and business email compromise schemes, including a conspiracy that defrauded a health care benefit program.
Mullings was sentenced to 10 years in federal prison by U.S. District Judge Michael L. Brown to be followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay restitution to victims. Mullings pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and seven counts of various money laundering offenses on January 17, 2023.
“Motivated by greed, Mullings and his co-conspirators brazenly stole millions of dollars from companies and elderly victims located throughout the United States,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Buchanan. “This case demonstrates our office’s commitment to collaborate closely with our law enforcement partners to bring to justice those who perpetrate these frauds, including at the expense of elderly citizens especially vulnerable to these schemes.”
“Malachi Mullings used various schemes to fraudulently obtain money to feed his greed, and in some cases took advantage of the elderly to do it,” said Demetrius Hardeman, Special Agent in Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Atlanta Field Office. “IRS Criminal Investigation special agents are skilled financial investigators who can unravel complex financial transactions and money laundering schemes criminals use to hide their ill-gotten money.”
According to U.S. Attorney Buchanan, the charges and other information presented in court: From at least 2019 through July 2021, Mullings opened 20 bank accounts in the name of a sham company, The Mullings Group LLC. Mullings used those accounts to launder millions of dollars of fraud proceeds generated by business email compromise (BEC) schemes targeting, among others, a health care benefit program and private companies, and romance fraud scams targeting numerous individual victims, several of whom were elderly. Together with his co-conspirators, Mullings engaged in financial transactions designed to conceal the fraud proceeds and used some of the funds to purchase luxury items, such as expensive cars and jewelry. In one instance, Mullings laundered $310,000 that was fraudulently diverted from a state Medicaid program and had been intended as reimbursement for a hospital. In another instance, Mullings obtained $260,000 from a romance scam perpetrated on an elderly victim, which Mullings used to purchase a Ferrari.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is part of the Department of Justice Transnational Elder Fraud Strike Force. The Strike Force focuses on investigating and prosecuting defendants associated with foreign-based fraud schemes that disproportionately affect American seniors. These include romance scams, phone scams, mass-mailing fraud schemes, and tech-support fraud schemes.
This case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Inspector General. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kelly K. Connors prosecuted the case, with Trial Attorneys Gary Winters and Chris Wenger of the National Rapid Response Strike Force of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section.
For further information, contact the U.S. Attorney’s Public Affairs Office at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.
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Key Facts
- State: Georgia
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Fraud & Financial Crimes
- Source: Official Source ↗
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