A Nigerian man has been sentenced to 10 years and one month in prison and ordered to pay nearly $1.5 million in compensation after being convicted of serious money laundering offences .
Olugbenga Lawal, 33, of Indianapolis, Indiana, was convicted in August of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Authorities had already arrested three other people who had pleaded guilty to the same crime.
The Nigerian laundered millions of dollars generated from various online scams, including romance scamsandbusiness email (BEC attacks).
See also: Anonymous Arabic hackers offer Silver RAT to other criminals
According to the US Department of Justice, from January 2019 to June 2020, the bank accounts of Lawal and his associates had received huge sums of money belonging to individual users and companies.
Seven accounts opened in the name of the Nigerian or his business, Luxe Logistics LLC, received more than $3.6 million in deposits between January 2019 and May 2020.The accounts were spread across five separate financial institutions to make the laundering process easier.
Lawal is believed to have worked directly with the boss of an international fraud operation, also of Nigerian origin. The two men were converting US into Nigerian currency.
The US Department of Justice said Lawal also helped launder money by sending cars to Nigeria.
See also: Founder of Bitzlato crypto exchange admits service was used for money laundering
As we mentioned earlier, the stolen money came primarily from romance scams and BEC attacks. According to the FBI, these two scams are very lucrative for cybercriminals. In 2022, romance scams brought in $736 million to criminals. The Department of Justice alleged that many of the victims whose money Lawal laundered were elderly Internet users who were scammed. The scammers took advantage of their loneliness and convinced them to give them their money.
On the other hand, BEC attacks led to losses of over $2.7 billion in 2022, according to the same FBI. However, the actual amount is likely much higher, since not all scams are officially reported.
Money laundering
Legal authorities take money laundering seriously. First, strict laws and regulations that prohibit such activities and provide for severe penalties for violators.
In addition, the authorities work closely with banks and other financial institutions to monitor and detect money laundering activities . This includes enforcing strict customer identification requirements and reporting suspicious transactions.
See also: FBI: Shut down 9 crypto exchange sites that facilitated money laundering
🔒 Protect your privacy with Proton VPN
Swiss VPN from the creators of Proton Mail — strict no-logs policy, strong encryption, and built-in NetShield that blocks ads, trackers, & malware.
- ✔ No-logs, based in Switzerland (except 14-Eyes)
- ✔ NetShield: blocks ads, trackers & malicious domains
- ✔ Covers all devices — free version available
The link is an affiliate link — SecNews may receive a commission at no additional cost to you. It does not affect the independence of our article writing.
Advanced technologies and analytical methods are also used to detect and combat this malicious activity. This may include the use of artificial intelligence and machine learning to analyze large volumes of data and discover suspicious patterns.
Finally, legal authorities are cooperating internationally to combat the phenomenon. This may include sharing information and resources, imposing international sanctions, and promoting legal cooperation.
Source: www.infosecurity-magazine.com
