AUSTIN, Texas – A Central Texas man was sentenced to 10 years in jail and ordered to pay restitution for his function in a cash laundering scheme; the investigation was carried out by Homeland Safety Investigations (HSI) together with U.S. Postal Inspections Service (USPIS).
Okanlawon Azeez Egerongbe, aka Tony Kunle, Alex Tohee, 37, of Spherical Rock, was sentenced Aug. 26 by a federal decide to serve to 120 months in federal jail and pay $633,520 in restitution. On Might 18, 2021, Egerongbe pleaded responsible to 1 depend of conspiracy to commit cash laundering.
“Let this sentence function a discover that HSI is dedicated to actively investigating people who prey on the weak to perpetuate monetary crimes,” mentioned Craig Larrabee, appearing particular agent answerable for HSI San Antonio. “Most of these crimes have devastating results on the victims and our monetary establishments. HSI will proceed to aggressively pursue cyber criminals and monetary fraudsters to the total extent of the regulation and can struggle to recuperate and legally return sufferer funds to their rightful proprietor.
“The U.S. Postal Inspection Service has an extended and proud historical past of defending the U.S. Mail and investigating fraud schemes,” mentioned Scott Repair, Inspector in Cost of the Houston Division of the USPIS. “Okanlawon Egerongbe devised a number of schemes to defraud harmless folks and misused Postal Service merchandise and the U.S. Mail to facilitate his crime. Postal Inspectors will proceed to work with our regulation enforcement companions, together with HSI Austin, to make sure anybody utilizing the U.S. Mail for fraudulent monetary good points are dropped at justice.”
“My workplace will proceed to pursue fraudsters and id thieves who use the web to prey on weak victims on-line,” mentioned U.S. Lawyer Ashley C. Hoff. “That features the cash launderers who allow these transnational prison networks by concealing and transferring their ill-gotten good points. The tragic suicide of one of many romance fraud victims on this case, who suffered the betrayal and the lack of a lot hard-earned cash, underscores the real-world affect of those on-line scams.”
In line with court docket data, Egerongbe knowingly laundered tens of millions of {dollars} from victims that he obtained via varied fraud schemes. The frauds included romance, enterprise electronic mail compromise (BEC), unemployment insurance coverage, and funding scams all designed to trick harmless victims via false pretenses. The quantity of tried and precise loss from the conspiracy was at the very least $3.5 million. To perpetuate the frauds, Egerongbe used faux passports to open a number of financial institution accounts in Austin. He would then construction withdrawals into smaller quantities to keep away from a transaction reporting requirement. Many victims confronted critical monetary hardship from these schemes.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Keith M. Henneke and Michael C. Galdo, Western District of Texas, prosecuted the case.
HSI is a directorate of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the principal investigative arm of the U.S. Division of Homeland Safety (DHS), liable for investigating transnational crime and threats, particularly these prison organizations that exploit the worldwide infrastructure via which worldwide commerce, journey, and finance transfer. HSI’s workforce of over 10,400 staff consists of greater than 6,800 particular brokers assigned to 225 cities all through the USA, and 86 abroad areas in 55 international locations. HSI’s worldwide presence represents DHS’s largest investigative regulation enforcement presence overseas and one of many largest worldwide footprints in U.S. regulation enforcement.