All articles tagged with #money laundering
Ukraine officials say Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff is a suspect in a money‑laundering probe. The authorities have not publicly named the person or announced charges, and the investigation appears ongoing. Zelenskyy's office emphasized due process and the presumption of innocence, as the case unfolds and draws attention to potential corruption at high levels.
Ukraine officials say Zelenskyy’s former chief of staff Andriy Yermak has been named a suspect in a money-laundering investigation; the probe is ongoing and no charges have been announced yet.
The U.S. Treasury Department directed banks to identify and report suspected Iran-associated money-laundering networks to tighten enforcement against illicit finance and sanctions evasion.
The DOJ charged 30 individuals, including former Biglaw attorneys, in a decade-long insider-trading operation that allegedly leveraged non-public information from major law firms, routed through a layered network of traders and sources, and used burner phones and coded language; the scheme referenced deals like iRobot and Amazon, with 19 arrests and two fugitives, while unnamed victim firms likely include some of the country’s largest M&A practices.
A Miami federal jury found former U.S. Representative David Rivera and associate Esther Nuhfer guilty of secretly lobbying for Venezuela without registering under FARA and of money-laundering tied to a $50 million contract with PDVSA. They allegedly used coded messages, moved contract proceeds to fund Rivera’s campaign and Nuhfer’s residence, and conspired to obscure the foreign influence. Rivera faces up to 60 years; Nuhfer up to 30, with sentencing to follow.
A former Chick-fil-A employee in Grapevine, Texas, is charged with defrauding the chain of about $80,000 by ringing up catering-size mac-and-cheese orders and refunding the charges to his personal credit cards; authorities say he was fired, returned to the store, and attempted to evade arrest, facing charges of property theft, money laundering and evading arrest.
A federal jury convicted 25 defendants in a cross-border business email compromise scheme that hacked victim email accounts to steal about $215 million from more than 1,000 victims across 47 states and 19 countries. Notable convictions include Oluwafemi Awoyemi, Aruan Drake, and Peter Reed for wire fraud conspiracy, with Awoyemi and Drake also guilty of money laundering conspiracy. The case involved a network of Nigerian-linked fraud operations, laundered funds through shell accounts, and the illicit proceeds included cash, cryptocurrency, cashier’s checks, luxury items, and a Georgia residence. Investigations were led by the FBI, USPS, and Border Patrol; sentencing will occur after consideration of various factors for each defendant.
A former Chick-fil-A employee in Grapevine, Texas, Keyshun Jones, 23, is accused of running an $80,000 scheme by ordering hundreds of mac-and-cheese meals and then refunding the charges to his personal credit cards; surveillance video allegedly captured the activity. He faces charges of property theft, money laundering, and evading arrest and was arrested with help from the Fugitive Task Force and Fort Worth police after being fired in October and identified by the franchise owner in November.
A Grapevine, Texas Chick-fil-A employee, Keyshun Jones, is accused of stealing about $80,000 by processing 800 mac-and-cheese orders and refunding them to his personal credit card; security footage and an arrest warrant led to his April 17 arrest. He faces charges of property theft, money laundering and evading arrest, with potential prison time up to 10 years.
Newport Beach resident Evan Tangeman, 22, was sentenced to 70 months for laundering more than $263 million in cryptocurrency for a multi-state criminal enterprise tied to online gaming; he previously pleaded guilty to laundering at least $3.5 million. The group used hackers, organizers, target identifiers and burglars to steal funds and spent the loot on nightclub tabs, exotic cars, private jets and rental homes in Los Angeles, Miami and the Hamptons. Tangeman allegedly destroyed evidence after co-conspirators were arrested and will face three years of supervised release following his prison term. The investigation involved the DOJ, FBI and IRS-CI.
A U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., sentenced Evan Tangeman, 22, of Newport Beach, to 70 months in prison for laundering at least $3.5 million generated by a multi-state social-engineering scheme that stole more than $263 million in cryptocurrency; he helped destroy electronic evidence when co-conspirators were arrested, and the scheme funded luxury cars, mansions, and other lavish purchases across California, Florida, and beyond.
The piece argues that the DOJ’s 11-count indictment of the Southern Poverty Law Center is frail, with a weak theory that donors were misled about supporting hate groups, lacking specific misrepresentations, and failing to meet the standards required to prove fraud beyond a reasonable doubt. It critiques the wire and bank fraud counts as poorly developed, notes ambiguities around “fictitious” companies and the use of “false and misleading” statements, and compares the case to other indictments to highlight its gaps. The author calls for a Bill of Particulars and warns the government may face serious legal and tactical challenges, suggesting the indictment may not withstand scrutiny or succeed on appeal.
The U.S. Department of Justice’s Scam Center Strike Force announced a coordinated international crackdown on Southeast Asia–based scam operations that defrauded Americans, including charges against two Chinese nationals tied to a Burma cryptocurrency fraud, the seizure of a Telegram channel used to recruit workers for forced-labor and law-enforcement impersonation schemes, and the takedown of over 500 fake investment websites. Authorities have restrained more than $700 million in cryptocurrency tied to money laundering and announced Treasury sanctions and State Department rewards as part of a broader government-wide effort to disrupt these networks and recover funds for victims.
The Department of Justice and partners announced coordinated actions against Southeast Asian scam centers, charging two Chinese nationals for crypto investment fraud in Burma, seizing a Telegram channel used to recruit workers for a Cambodia-based impersonation scam, and taking down over 503 fake investment websites. The Scam Center Strike Force has restrained more than $700 million in cryptocurrency linked to money laundering, with Treasury sanctions on Cambodian operators and State Department rewards tied to the Tai Chang centers. The actions illustrate a broad, interagency effort against cyber-enabled fraud and trafficking, part of an ongoing campaign launched in 2025 to disrupt transnational scam networks and recover funds for victims.
A federal grand jury indicted the Southern Poverty Law Center on 11 counts, including wire fraud, false statements to a federally insured bank, and conspiracy to commit concealment money laundering, alleging the nonprofit diverted more than $3 million in donations to individuals tied to violent extremist groups via fictitious entities and concealed the transfers; the case seeks forfeiture of the ill-gotten gains.