ATLANTA – Following a nine-day trial, Ahamefule Aso Odus has been convicted by a federal jury on 12 counts of cash laundering stemming from his function in an enormous cash laundering operation. Odus fled after testifying throughout his trial and is at the moment a fugitive.
“Odus and his co-conspirators laundered tens of millions of {dollars} stolen from firms and people all through america and overseas,” mentioned U.S. Legal professional Ryan Ok. Buchanan. “Though Odus is on the run, he can’t and won’t evade justice for his crimes. We’ll proceed to commit our workplace’s time and sources to uncovering these sorts of complicated schemes and holding accountable these people who perpetrate them.”
“As the one defendant in “Operation 5 Fingers” who refused to take a plea and elected to go to trial, this swift jury conviction proves the large quantity of proof that regulation enforcement had of Odus and his coconspirators crimes,” mentioned Keri Farley, Particular Agent in Cost of FBI Atlanta. “Regardless of how elaborate or difficult the fraud scheme, the FBI and our federal companions will proceed to uncover and unravel them to guard Americans and companies.”
“Ahamefule Aso Odus Jr. facilitated the theft of retirement plan property by knowingly receiving fraudulently obtained funds from a person’s ERISA coated retirement account into his enterprise checking account. We’ll proceed to work with our regulation enforcement companions and the U.S. Division of Labor’s, Worker Advantages Safety Administration to guard the integrity of worker profit plans,” mentioned Mathew Broadhurst, Particular Agent-in-Cost, Southeast Area, U.S. Division of Labor, Workplace of Inspector Normal.
In response to U.S. Legal professional Buchanan, the costs and different info offered in court docket: Ahamefule Aso Odus and his co-conspirators acted as cash launderers for unknown fraudsters who scammed unsuspecting people and corporations out of tens of millions of {dollars}. Members of the conspiracy, together with Odus, created sham firms and registered them with the Georgia Secretary of State. These firms didn’t preserve a bodily place to conduct enterprise, didn’t earn reputable revenue, and didn’t pay wages to staff. As a substitute, the conspirators used these sham firms to open financial institution accounts after which funnel fraud cash by way of the accounts.
Upon receipt of the fraud proceeds, Odus and his co-conspirators shortly transformed the cash to their very own use, and to the usage of their prison associates, by way of wire transfers, over-the-counter money withdrawals, and the acquisition of cashier’s checks. This conduct concerned financial transactions of greater than $10,000 that had been designed to hide and disguise the character, location, supply, possession, and management of those fraudulent proceeds.
Odus is one in all 41 folks initially charged in 4 associated fraud and cash laundering instances, recognized collectively as “Operation 5 Fingers.” Collectively, members of this prison group laundered greater than $30 million in fraud proceeds from victims of computer-enabled scams, together with enterprise e mail compromise schemes, romance fraud schemes, and retirement account takeover schemes.
To this point, 39 of the 41 “Operation 5 Fingers” defendants have been convicted. Twenty-five of the defendants have been sentenced, with sentences starting from six months to eight years of incarceration. Prices in opposition to one defendant had been dismissed after he died whereas he was a fugitive, and one defendant is scheduled to enter a responsible plea on March 10, 2023.
On January 30, 2023, a jury convicted Odus on one depend of conspiracy to commit cash laundering and three counts of concealment cash laundering. The jury additionally convicted him of eight counts of transactional cash laundering. In a bifurcated continuing after the decision, the jury forfeited $73,896 that had been seized from Odus.
Sentencing for Ahamefule Aso Odus, 30, of Atlanta, Georgia, is scheduled for Could 9, 2023, at 9:30 a.m. earlier than U.S. District Decide William M. Ray II.
This case was investigated by the Division of Labor, Workplace of Inspector Normal, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, america Secret Service, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Safety Investigations below the auspices of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Job Drive (OCDETF) program—the keystone drug, cash laundering, and transnational organized crime enforcement program of the Division of Justice. The investigating businesses acquired appreciable help from quite a few federal, state, and native regulation enforcement authorities all through the investigation.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kelly Ok. Connors and Russell Phillips are prosecuting the case.
For additional info please contact the U.S. Legal professional’s Public Affairs Workplace at USAGAN.PressEmails@usdoj.gov or (404) 581-6016. The Web handle for the U.S. Legal professional’s Workplace for the Northern District of Georgia is http://www.justice.gov/usao-ndga.