Two Raleigh Men Sentenced to Prison for Laundering Proceeds of Transnational Crime

RALEIGH, N.C. – In a major blow to transnational crime, two Raleigh men, Joseph Kingsley Irona, 46, and Mamady Fadima Conde, 37, were sentenced to prison for their roles in a massive money laundering scheme.

Irona was sentenced to 84 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release for his role in the conspiracy to commit money laundering. Conde was sentenced to 60 months’ imprisonment and five years of supervised release. Both men were also ordered to pay restitution to the Social Security Administration (SSA) and the Small Business Administration (SBA) in connection with the scheme.

According to court documents, Irona and Conde were involved in a highly complex network of bank accounts at multiple financial institutions. This network was used for laundering over $1 million in criminal proceeds derived from various fraud schemes, particularly identity theft.

One particularly intricate scheme involved the misuse of stolen victim identifiers to submit online applications for Social Security retirement benefits in victims’ names. After the applications were approved, the resulting payments were unlawfully deposited into accounts within the money laundering network, including accounts held by Irona and Conde.

Irona and Conde took elaborate steps to dissipate the funds and obscure their source and destination. In addition to his money laundering activity, Irona was also responsible for managing multiple co-conspirators in the United States and the flow of criminal funds through their accounts in furtherance of the larger money laundering operation, including facilitating money transfers to co-conspirators in Nigeria.

U.S. Attorney Michael Easley praised the sentencing, stating, “These defendants took advantage of benefits that hard-working Americans pay for by fraudulently obtaining identities and funneling the funds through elaborate laundering channels to obscure their trail.”

Gail S. Ennis, Inspector General for the Social Security Administration, also commented on the case, saying, “The misuse of SSA’s e-Services to defraud SSA and rightful beneficiaries and recipients will not be tolerated at any level. This sentence holds these defendants accountable for their malicious and egregious crimes.”

A third defendant in the case, Chinedu Frances Okwuosha, was previously sentenced to 24 months’ imprisonment and three years of supervised release on February 22, 2024.

The Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General, investigated the case, while Assistant United States Attorney Adam F. Hulbig prosecuted the case for the government.

Related court documents and information can be found on the website of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina or on PACER by searching for Case No. 5:22-CR-348-D.