HOUSTON, Texas — The FBI has charged nine Houston residents for allegedly laundering millions of dollars from multiple companies.
Indicted on charges of having laundered almost $900,000 through a deceptive business email compromise (BEC) scam were:
- Ashley Crespo, 27
- David Alvarado, 21
- Dayana Zaila Ramos, 32
- Jerome Crawford, 25
- Wendy Elizabeth Ramos Lopez, 29
- Alvaro Umanzor, 23
- Luis Lopez, 39, and
- Jamal Moore, 25.
Those eight have also been accused of laundering around $4.5 million in the span of over two years with their victims being in both the U.S. and overseas.
Oluwasegun Baiyewu, 36, was charged separately in another scheme. Baiyewu is accused of being involved in an international money laundering scheme that moved at least $4.5 million also through BEC scams with one of the main victims being a Puerto Rican renewable energy supplier.
BEC scams seek out businesses that use wire transfers and exploit them by sending false requests to companies and hacking their email accounts.
More than 500 Americans fell victim to these scams with damages surpassing $51 million.
The FBI's "Operation Eagle Sweep" led to the arrests of over 65 suspects both in the U.S. and abroad. The operation was a three-month-long mission.
“Operation Eagle Sweep’s success is directly attributed to our global reach and worldwide partnerships," FBI Cyber Division Assistant Director Bryan Vorndran said.
"We will pursue you no matter where you may be located. The public we serve deserves nothing less, " Vorndran said to criminals participating in BEC schemes.
