U.S. Files Forfeiture Action To Recover Over $5Million Fraud Proceeds Traced To Banks In Nigeria, China, Others

U S. Files Forfeiture Action To Recover Over $5Million Fraud Proceeds Traced To Banks In Nigeria, China, Others

The complaint alleges that in January 2023, a workers union located in Dorchester received an email requesting a change of payment information from someone it believed worked at an investment consulting firm.

The United States has filed a forfeiture action to recover approximately $5,315,746 alleged to be proceeds of a business email compromise (BEC) scheme targeting a Massachusetts workers union, as well as property involved in money laundering.

According to the United States District of Massachusetts in a statement posted on its website on Wednesday, the fraudulently obtained funds were transferred through a series of intermediary bank accounts to a cryptocurrency exchange and various bank accounts located in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Nigeria.

The complaint alleges that in January 2023, a workers union located in Dorchester received an email requesting a change of payment information from someone it believed worked at an investment consulting firm.

The complaint also alleges that the email came from what initially appeared to be the consulting firm’s true email address but was in fact a spoofed email address that had been changed by one letter.

The spoofed email instructed the workers’ union to make a $6,400,000 transfer to a different bank account than had been previously arranged, which the workers union did.

The spoofed email, however, was a fraudulent communication intended to mislead the workers union into unwittingly transferring funds to an account controlled by someone other than the intended recipient.

The fraudulently obtained funds were then allegedly transferred through a series of intermediary bank accounts – with some funds sent or attempted to be sent, to a cryptocurrency exchange and various bank accounts located in Hong Kong, China, Singapore and Nigeria.

Investigators were able to trace the proceeds of the scheme to seven domestically held bank accounts, the contents of which were subsequently seized by U.S. authorities.

“BEC fraud schemes present a serious threat to business and individuals nationwide, causing significant financial and emotional harm to victims by exploiting trusted communication channels they rely upon everyday. Today’s civil forfeiture action demonstrates that when victims report such misconduct to the authorities there may be steps we can take to recover stolen funds. We hope today’s action helps restore some level of stability and justice for those impacted by fraud,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy.