Michael J. Randles, Money Laundering Conspiracy, Virginia 2016

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Table of Contents

Virginia Man Sentenced to 4 Years for Role in International Money Laundering Scheme

A Canadian citizen and permanent resident of Costa Rica, Michael J. Randles, 49, was sentenced to 48 months in prison for his role in an international money laundering conspiracy in connection with an international ‘pump and dump’ securities fraud scheme.

Randles, who controlled and operated an offshore brokerage and money laundering platform located in San Jose, Costa Rica, with his co-conspirator Harold Bailey Gallison II, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy in October 2016.

According to admissions made in connection with his plea agreement, Randles controlled and operated an offshore brokerage and money laundering platform located in San Jose, Costa Rica, that went by various names, including Moneyline Brokers, Sandias Azucaradas, and Trinity Asset Services (collectively Moneyline). The purpose of Moneyline was to trade securities, primarily microcap or ‘penny stocks,’ through U.S. and offshore accounts.

Randles admitted that Moneyline often did business under the names of various shell companies to conceal both the true source and ownership of the securities and the flow of the funds. He also admitted that Moneyline laundered approximately $1 million in proceeds from the pump and dump of the Colorado-based company Bryn Resources Inc.

Randles’s co-conspirators, Gallison, Ann Marie Hiskey, and Roger G. Coleman, previously pleaded guilty in the case. Gallison was sentenced to serve 216 months in prison, while Hiskey and Coleman were each sentenced to two years’ probation.

The FBI’s Washington Field Office investigated the case, with Senior Trial Attorney N. Nathan Dimock and Trial Attorney Michael O’Neill of the Criminal Division’s Fraud Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Grace L. Hill of the Eastern District of Virginia prosecuting the case. The Securities and Exchange Commission, the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, and the Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs also provided significant assistance.

The case was one of the most egregious examples of international securities fraud and money laundering in recent years, with the scheme generating millions of dollars in illicit proceeds.