Djonibek Rahmankulov, Money Laundering Conspiracy, Bank Fraud, New York 2023

A Queens man has been convicted of laundering millions of dollars in proceeds from various types of criminal activity, including Medicare and Medicaid fraud, and bank fraud.

Djonibek Rahmankulov, 34, of Queens, New York, was found guilty of one count of money laundering conspiracy, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 20 years; one count of bank fraud, which carries a maximum prison sentence of 30 years; and one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, which carries a maximum prison sentence of five years.

According to the superseding indictment and the evidence at trial, Rahmankulov operated a network of shell companies that were used to launder millions of dollars of criminal proceeds from multiple types of criminal activity. He worked with computer hackers who fraudulently gained control of the bank accounts of victims located throughout the United States and executed millions of dollars in fraudulent wire transfers into bank accounts opened by Rahmankulov and his co-conspirators.

Rahmankulov received wire transfers into bank accounts he created and bank accounts he instructed others to create and laundered these proceeds through multiple additional bank accounts to prevent the victims and the banks from recovering the stolen funds. In addition, Rahmankulov worked with a network of pharmacies engaged in Medicare and Medicaid fraud.

Rahmankulov also filed fraudulent applications for COVID relief loans from the Small Business Administration for multiple companies he controlled. He laundered the proceeds of loans and grants through these companies. Rahmankulov made a number of materially false statements to financial institutions in connection with his money laundering schemes, both when opening bank accounts and when executing financial transactions with those bank accounts.

Rahmankulov is scheduled to be sentenced on January 5, 2023, by U.S. District Judge Ronnie Abrams. U.S. Attorney Damian Williams praised the outstanding investigative work of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s New York Money Laundering Investigation Squad.

The prosecution is being handled by the Office’s Money Laundering and Transnational Criminal Enterprises Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Cecilia Vogel, Thane Rehn, and Samuel Raymond are in charge of the prosecution.

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