BEVERLY HILLS, July 06, (THEWILL) – The Federal Bureau of Investigations has alleged that Hushpuppi’s associate, Olalekan Jacob Ponle aka Woodbery, defrauded US firms of over 15 million dollars.
Woodbery, who was arrested alongside Hushpuppi (real name Ramon Olurunwa Abbas) in Dubai, UAE, made his first appearance in court over the weekend in Chicago, Illinois. He could get as much as 20 years if convicted.
In an affidavit filed against Woodbery, the FBI, which had earlier extradited and docked Huspuppi, said most of the funds stolen by the suspect and his gang from Chicago-based companies through a sophisticated business email compromise (BEC), were laundered using bitcoin wallets. The suspects targeted accounts through computer intrusions causing the unauthorized transfer of funds from the victims’ companies.
The FBI said one of the companies lost $2,300,000, while another firm lost $15,268,000.
“Preliminary blockchain analysis indicates that PONLE received at least 1,494.71506296 bitcoin related to these BEC schemes, valued at approximately $6,599,499.98.
“These schemes resulted in attempted and actual losses to victim companies in the tens of millions. PONLE directed money mules in the US to open bank accounts in the names of victim companies.
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“Proceeds from BEC schemes, ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to millions of dollars, were then wired by unwitting employees to the bank accounts opened by PONLE’s mules.
“PONLE then instructed the mules to convert the proceeds to Bitcoin and to send the proceeds of the BEC schemes to a bitcoin wallet that he owned and operated,” the unsealed indicted said.
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