Scams need money laundering services to be successful. Such a money launderer in Florida has now been convicted and sentenced. Niselio Barros Garcia Jr., a 50-year-old Florida resident, has been sentenced to 48 months in federal prison for his involvement in laundering money from romance and business email compromise scams. These fraudulent schemes primarily targeted American consumers and businesses, with the illicit proceeds transferred to co-conspirators in Nigeria.
According to the court documents, Niselio Barros Garcia Jr. was integral to a network that facilitated the laundering of money obtained through various fraud schemes. He provided bank accounts to receive the scam proceeds and subsequently used a crypto exchange to convert and transfer the funds to Nigeria in the form of Bitcoin.
Business email compromises, which Garcia was involved in, typically occur when criminals hack or spoof email accounts to initiate unauthorized money transfers. Romance scams, another facet of his criminal activities, involve creating fake online profiles to establish trust with victims, leading to financial exploitation. These scams not only result in substantial financial losses but also have a profound personal impact on the victims.
In January, Garcia pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering and admitted to personally laundering over $2.3 million. As part of his sentencing, Garcia was also ordered to forfeit $464,923.91, the amount he directly gained from these criminal activities. Although Garcia has been sentenced, four additional defendants related to this case remain at large.
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