Andre Jackson, Money Laundering, Michigan 2023

GRAND RAPIDS, MICHIGAN - Former Clayton County, Georgia police officer Andre Jackson has been convicted of attempting to launder $500,000 in fraudulently obtained COVID-19 relief funds.

According to U.S. Attorney Mark Totten, Jackson and his co-conspirators chose to exploit COVID-19 relief funds as an opportunity to get rich quick by stealing funds intended to keep workers from losing their jobs.

In 2020, Jackson introduced fellow Georgia resident James Williams to Jemar Mason and David Kurbanov, both residents of the Western District of Michigan. Williams helped Mason and Kurbanov prepare fraudulent applications for Paycheck Protection Program loans authorized by the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security ('CARES') Act.

Jackson and his co-conspirators exploited the program to obtain approximately $1.495 million in fraud proceeds. Afterwards, Jackson attempted to launder some of the proceeds by directing two of his confederates to wire $500,000 to an overseas bank account that Jackson selected.

Investigators from the Internal Revenue Service detected the plot and took steps to freeze the bank accounts of the conspirators, ultimately recovering approximately $1.123 million of the fraud proceeds.

Jackson faces up to 10 years in prison and is scheduled for sentencing on February 23, 2023.

The charges in this case were part of an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force ('OCDETF') investigation, dubbed Operation Cashout. The OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States.

The CARES Act is a federal law designed to provide emergency financial assistance to millions of Americans suffering the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdmi/pr/2022_1028_Andre_Jackson