A US scammer has been sentenced for laundering over $4.5 million stolen via fraud schemes that targeted healthcare and the elderly.
Malachi Mullings, 31, of Sandy Springs, Georgia, has been sentenced to 10 years behind bars for laundering money derived from business email compromise (BEC) schemes, targeting Medicare, state Medicaid, and private health insurers, and romance fraud schemes targeting numerous victims, including the elderly.
BEC schemes involve individuals posing as business partners to fraudulently divert money from victims’ bank accounts into accounts they or their co-conspirators control. They often recruit "money mules" and employ tactics such as spoofed email addresses, bank account takeovers, and other deceptive methods to make victims believe that they’re making legitimate payments.
A press release by the US Department of Justice (DoJ) states that the suspect opened 20 bank accounts under the name of a fictitious company, The Mullings Group LLC, and used them to launder money for at least two years.
Together with his accomplices, Mullings engaged in financial transactions to conceal the proceeds of fraud, using the funds to purchase luxury items such as expensive cars and jewelry.
According to court documents, Mullings laundered $310,000 that was fraudulently diverted from a state Medicaid program intended for hospital reimbursement. In another instance, he obtained $260,000 through a romance scam, which he used to buy a Ferrari.
Mullings pleaded guilty in January 2023 to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and seven counts of various money laundering offenses. In 2022, the DoJ charged ten individuals who were part of this network of fraudulent activities.
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