An indictment was unsealed yesterday in Nashville, Tennessee, charging nine members of a multi-state money laundering organization responsible for laundering millions of dollars derived from internet fraud, including business email compromise schemes.
The nine defendants were arrested in a takedown coordinated across three jurisdictions.
According to court documents, Samson A. Omoniyi, 43 of Houston; Misha L. Cooper, 50 of Murfreesboro, Tennessee; Robert A. Cooper, 66 of Murfreesboro; Carlesha L. Perry, 36 of Houston; Whitney D. Bardley, 30 of Florissant, Missouri; Lauren O. Guidry, 32 of Houston; Caira Y. Osby, 44 of Houston; Dazai S. Harris, 34 of Murfreesboro; and Edward D. Peebles, 35, of Murfreesboro, were charged with conspiracy to engage in money laundering.
As alleged in the indictment, the defendants were members of a long-running money laundering organization operating since approximately November 2016 in and around Tennessee, Texas, and across the country.
The conspirators allegedly structured the organisation so that recruiters or “herders” recruited and directed participants or “money mules” to launder money obtained from internet frauds that targeted businesses and individuals in the United States and abroad.
The defendants allegedly used sham and front companies to conceal the fraud proceeds and enrich the members of the conspiracy. The conspiracy is alleged to have agreed to launder more than $20 million in fraud proceeds.
The defendants each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted.
