Natalia Korzha, Money Laundering, New York 2022

A Brooklyn woman has pleaded guilty to managing a money laundering operation that helped online fraudsters profit from their schemes.

Natalia Korzha, 49, of Brooklyn, New York, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit bank fraud in connection with a scheme to launder money derived from an online vehicle sale scam that generated at least $5.3 million from dozens of defrauded consumers.

Korzha managed a group of co-conspirators who opened bank accounts that were used to launder millions of dollars in criminal proceeds from the online vehicle sale scam. She will now face a term of imprisonment and be required to forfeit her ill-gotten gains.

As alleged in the Complaint and the Indictments, and based on statements made in court, Korzha managed a money laundering operation based in Brooklyn that included co-defendants Vladislav Neceaev, Anashon Kamalov, Karol Kaminski, Stanislav Tunkevic, and Svetlana Vaidotiene, among others.

With Korzha as coordinator, Neceaev, Kamalov, Kaminski, Tunkevic, Vaidotiene, and other co-conspirators opened numerous bank accounts in the name of shell companies for the purpose of laundering money stolen from consumers who were trying to buy vehicles online. In exchange, the defendants received a cut of the victims’ money.

Korzha agreed to forfeit $5,386,538 and pay restitution of $5,386,538. She is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Analisa Torres on September 7, 2022.

Other members of the conspiracy, pretending to represent car dealerships, advertised vehicles that they did not own and were not authorized to sell on fake websites with domain names that sounded like legitimate car dealerships, or through online marketplaces like Craigslist and eBay. Victims who responded to those advertisements and negotiated a purchase price were instructed by the purported sellers to wire payment to accounts that Neceaev, Kamalov, Kaminski, Tunkevic, Vaidotiene, and other co-conspirators opened.

Once the payments cleared, the defendants quickly withdrew the funds before the victims realized they had been defrauded. The victims never received the vehicles they thought they had bought or any refunds from the fake sellers. In total, dozens of victims were defrauded of a total of at least $5.3 million.

The offense of conspiracy to commit bank fraud carries a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Konzha’s plea agreement requires her to forfeit $5,386,538 and pay restitution of $5,386,538.

Related Federal Cases