FBI
Dismantles Fraud and Money Laundering Ring
Exceeding $4 Million in Five States
FBI
Agents, along with U.S. Postal Inspectors and Agents
from the INS, today arrested sixteen individuals in
five states (Wisconsin, Florida, New York, Tennessee,
and Mississippi) involved in a coupon redemption fraud
and money laundering scheme that resulted in losses
exceeding $4 million. Some of the proceeds of the
fraud were sent to the West Bank. The FBI continues
to investigate the overseas financial transactions
and other aspects of the scheme.
“Dismantling
fraudulent scams that can harm American corporations
and consumers is key in the FBI’s efforts to
fight financial crime,” said Cassandra Chandler,
FBI National Spokeswoman. “This type of cooperation
among law enforcement is vital in detecting and taking
down these scams.”
The scheme involved over 300 stores and spanned fifteen
states, including Alabama, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois,
Louisiana, Massachusetts, Mississippi, New Jersey,
New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas, Rhode
Island, and Wisconsin. Arrests, interviews, and federal
search warrants of businesses and residences were
conducted simultaneously today by the FBI and cooperating
law enforcement partners in a number of states. This
investigation was conducted over a nineteen month
period.
Three of the persons arrested today are being charged
in the Northern District of Mississippi, and thirteen
of the individuals arrested today are being charged
in a complaint filed in the Eastern District of Wisconsin,
for their participation in a conspiracy to violate
the following federal statutes: Mail Fraud; Wire Fraud;
Money Laundering; Interstate Transportation of Stolen
Property; and Receiving Stolen Property that Crossed
State Lines
The
FBI was assisted in this investigation by a number
of law enforcement agencies, to include the United
States Postal Inspection Service, the Immigration
and Naturalization Service, the Social Security Administration,
the Milwaukee Police Department, and other state and
local agencies in a number of states.
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