Nine defendants accused of laundering more than $20 million from internet fraud will be tried at the Fred D. Thompson Federal Building & Courthouse in Nashville. Photo by the U.S. General Services Administration
Nov. 28 (UPI) — Nine people are accused of running a multi-state money laundering organization that handled $20 million from internet fraud, the Department of Justice announced Wednesday.
The nine defendants from Tennessee, Texas and Missouri allegedly ran a money laundering organization since November 2016, the DOJ said in a news release.
They were indicted in the U.S. District Court for Middle Tennessee in Nashville. The indictment was unsealed on Wednesday.
“The defendants allegedly used sham and front companies to conceal the fraud proceeds and enrich the members of the conspiracy,” the DOJ said.
The defendants are accused of creating an organization that used “herders” to recruit and direct others known as “money mules” to launder money allegedly acquired through internet fraud that targeted businesses and individuals in the United States and abroad.
They allegedly laundered more than $20 million obtained through internet fraud, including business email “compromise schemes,” since 2016, according to court documents.
The nine defendants are charged with conspiracy to engage in money laundering but are innocent until proven guilty. Each faces up to 20 years in prison if convicted.
Defendants Misha L. Cooper, 50; Robert A. Cooper, 66; Dazai S. Harris, 34; and Edward D. Peebles, 35, are from Murfreesboro, Tenn.
Defendants Samson A. Omoniyi, 43; Carlesha L. Perry, 36;Lauren O. Guidry, 32; and Caira Y. Osby, 44, are residents of Houston. Defendant Whitney D. Bardley, 30, is a resident of Florissant, Mo.
The defendants were arrested in a coordinated takedown across Tennessee, Texas and Missouri, but the DOJ did not say when the arrests were made.
Agents with the FBI’s field offices in Nashville and Salt Lake City and the Boise, Idaho, resident agency assisted in the federal investigation. So did the FBI’s forensic accountant support team.
Assistant U.S. Attorney S. Carran Daughtrey in Nashville and trial attorneys Kenneth Kaplan and Jasmin Salehi Fashami are prosecuting the cases against the nine defendants.