Nigerian And Eight Other Members Of Multi-state Money Laundering Organization Charged In US

A Nigerian national alongside eight others has been accused of running a multi-state money laundering organization that handled $20 million from internet fraud.

The US Department of Justice announced this in a statement on Wednesday, November 27, 2024.

“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 statement read.

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 organization 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.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Nicole M. Argentieri, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; Acting U.S. Attorney Thomas J. Jaworski for the Middle District of Tennessee; and Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.

The defendants each face a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison if convicted. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

The FBI Nashville Field Office and Salt Lake City Field Office, Boise Resident Agency are investigating the case. FBI’s Forensic Accountant Support Team provided valuable assistance in the investigation.

Trial Attorneys Kenneth Kaplan and Jasmin Salehi Fashami of the Criminal Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Carran Daughtrey for the Middle District of Tennessee are prosecuting the case.