James E. Ugoh, Money Laundering, Pennsylvania 2014
Former Toronto MoneyGram Agent James E. Ugoh has been re-sentenced to 151 months (12.6 years) in prison for his role in a large-scale money laundering operation.
Ugoh, 51, was initially sentenced to 118 months in prison in 2012 for conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering. However, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit agreed with the government that the district court erred in calculating Ugoh's advisory sentencing guideline range, and the case was remanded back to the district court for resentencing.
Between 2004 and 2009, Ugoh and his co-conspirators defrauded thousands of American citizens out of $4 million through a scheme that involved sending counterfeit checks and promises of cash prizes to unsuspecting victims. The victims were tricked into depositing the worthless checks into their bank accounts and then sending money to the fraudsters via the MoneyGram money transfer system.
Ugoh, who was the leader of a corrupt group of Canadian MoneyGram agents, obtained his first MoneyGram outlet in 2001 and by 2008 had 12 outlets in the greater Toronto area. He recruited three other agents, Kayode Kassim, Abel Ogunfunwa, and Felix Mordi, to launder MoneyGram transfers on his behalf. The four defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering and were originally sentenced to the following terms of incarceration: Mordi - 53 months, Ogunfunwa - 63 months, Kassim - 80 months, and Ugoh - 118 months.
The scheme involved Ugoh's group intercepting, laundering, and distributing MoneyGram transfers sent by the victims of mass-marketing schemes. Ugoh would make the MoneyGram checks payable to third-party companies controlled by his co-conspirators, who would then deposit the checks into their bank accounts and distribute the balance to Ugoh. Ugoh would then share the bulk of the funds with the mass-marketing fraudsters, typically via off-shore money transfers to Nigeria, Jamaica, or Romania.
Ugoh's 12.6-year prison sentence is the longest among the four defendants, with Kassim receiving a 109-month sentence in December 2013. Mordi is scheduled to be resentenced on February 13, 2014, and Ogunfunwa has not yet been resentenced.
Defendant: James E. Ugoh
Criminal Charges: Conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, and money laundering
City and State: Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
Date: January 2004 - April 2009
Sentence: 151 months (12.6 years) in prison
Dollar Amount: $4 million
Key Facts
- State: Pennsylvania
- Category: White Collar Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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