Money Mules, Money Laundering, North Carolina 2023

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – In a coordinated operation, U.S. law enforcement agencies took action against over 2,300 money mules, far surpassing last year’s effort, which acted against over 600 money mules. This year, actions occurred in every state in the country.

A money mule is an individual who assists fraudsters by receiving money from victims of fraud and forwarding it to the fraud organizers, many of whom are located abroad. Some money mules know they are assisting fraudsters, but others are unaware that their actions enable fraudsters’ efforts to swindle money from consumers, businesses, and government unemployment funds.

The initiative announced today targeted money mules involved in a wide range of schemes including lottery fraud, romance scams, government imposter fraud, technical support fraud, business email compromise or CEO fraud, and unemployment insurance fraud. Many of these schemes target elderly or vulnerable members of society.

“Money mules fuel fraud against some of America’s most vulnerable populations. Without the help of these money mules, many foreign fraud enterprises find it difficult to profit off of U.S. victims,” said Attorney General William P. Barr. “As this initiative demonstrates, the Department of Justice is committed to disrupting money mule networks, taking actions against more money mules this year than ever before, in an effort to cut off the flow of funds from American consumers and businesses to transnational criminal organizations.”

“Criminals enterprises that perpetrate financial fraud are increasingly relying on money mules to launder ill-gotten gains and conduct financial transactions using illegal proceeds. Be it under the guise of a new romantic relationship or the promise of a new job, scammers employ many tactics that can dupe unsuspecting victims into carrying out these illegal money operations. Today’s initiative serves as a lesson and a warning: don’t let scammers fool you into doing their dirty work,” said Andrew Murray, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of North Carolina.

Eight federal law enforcement agencies participated in this year’s effort. Led by the Consumer Protection Branch, the FBI, and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the participating agencies include the Department of Labor Office of Inspector General, Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Office of Inspector General, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General, U.S. Secret Service, and U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration.

Some highlights from this year’s efforts are: actions were taken to halt the conduct of approximately 2,300 money mules, spanning 92 federal districts; law enforcement served approximately 2,000 money mules with letters warning the money mules that they were facilitating fraud and could face civil or criminal consequences for continuing their actions; agents conducted over 450 interviews; on approximately 30 instances, agents seized assets or facilitated the return of victim funds, among which was a 2019 Lamborghini, which was seized as part of an investigation into a business email compromise scheme; the U.S. Postal Inspection Service filed 14 administrative actions requiring money mules to cease facilitating fraud; and U.S. Attorney’s Offices and the Consumer Protection Branch filed 17 civil injunctive actions seeking court orders requiring money mules to cease their activities.

Defendant: None specified. Criminal charges: Assisting in money laundering. City and state: Nationwide. Exact date: February 2023. Sentence or outcome: None specified. No dollar amounts were mentioned in the source.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-wdnc/pr/us-attorneys-office-participates-law-enforcement-action-against-approximately-2300