Nigerian scam: Seven people, including a Nigerian indicted for fraud and money laundering in the U.S

Nigerian scam: Seven people, including a Nigerian indicted for fraud and money laundering in the U.S

A woman and others admitted  they helped run a Nigerian scam that defrauded South Mississippi  residents  and many others through work-at-home and mystery shopper jobs and  re-shipping scams. The victims were targeted through emails, online  advertising, identities stolen, fake credit cards made. The ill-gotten  goods and other illegal proceeds were re-shipped to Nigeria, Ghana,  South Africa, China, UAE, Haiti.

The suspects are: Ann Louise Franzen of Kiln; Gary  Barnard, Shawn Ann White and Michele Gayle Fee, all of Manteca, Calif.;  and Tara Lynn Thomas of Turlock, Calif.

The court records show they each pleaded guilty Tuesday, March 22 to conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States.

They   and three others including a Nigerian, Funso Hassan, 26 and Anthony  Shane Jeffers of Maryville, Tenn, were indicted in an investigation that  revealed scams  that solicited workers in mass emails, paid workers with bogus checks  and money orders and used stolen identities and fake credit cards to  purchase high-dollar items shipped to the workers, who re-shipped them  to other countries.

Chief U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr. has set their sentencing for June 21, 2016.  They each face up to five years in prison, three years' probation and a  fine of up to $250,000. Franzen, Barnard and Thomas remain free pending  sentencing.

Funso Hassan and Jeffers are set for trial April 11, 2016. They face prosecution  on charges to include money laundering and fraud. Hassan remains in  custody.

The seven were charged in a 19-count indictment filed  last July. The crimes included identity theft, theft of government  funds, bank fraud, wire fraud and mail fraud. The investigation  started after Customs and Border Patrol agents began intercepting  packages containing millions of dollars in fake checks and money orders.

 

A Homeland Security Investigations probe revealed the conspiracy began Aug. 13, 2001 and continued through June 3, 2015. The  scams solicited workers via emails and the Internet. Some workers were  paid to receive and re-ship expensive items, including jewelry, purses,  computers and cellphones. The items were bought with fake credit cards  and stolen identities.

Workers were instructed to deposit checks in their accounts, keep part of it and send the rest to someone else. The  ruse used fraudulent U.S. Postal Service labels and counterfeit money  orders and the wiring of money with the use of fake identifications.

The  indictment said ill-gotten merchandise was shipped to people in Nigeria  and other countries, and actual money changed hands in wire transfers  of as much as $113,000.

HSI agents have said  they seized $3.1  million in bogus money from Franzen's home in 2012. She allegedly  received bogus checks from Nigeria in a package labeled "local soap and  sponge herbs". Smaller  amounts were also from other defendants' homes in 2013.

Actual money changed hands through wire transfers of as high as $113,000 at a time, the indictment said.

Source: Nigerian scam: Seven people, including a Nigerian indicted for fraud and money laundering in the U.S