A Togolese national with a sprawling criminal history is headed back to federal prison after orchestrating an international money laundering scheme that syphoned millions of dollars, including federal environmental funds, into a web of shell companies.
Gedeon Mawulolo Agbeyome, a lawful permanent resident living in Maryland, was sentenced to five years in prison following his March 20 guilty plea to charges of conspiracy to commit money laundering and aggravated identity theft.
The federal judge has ordered him to pay $5.7 million in restitution and preliminary forfeiture.
According to court documents, Agbeyome used stolen identities to register sham businesses and open corresponding bank accounts.
These accounts acted as digital laundromats for nearly $3 million in fraudulent proceeds.
Most notably, the scheme successfully diverted money from a U.S. government environmental trust fund, proving that even high-level federal accounts were not immune to the group’s tactics.
Agbeyome was taken into custody by special agents from ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Maryland.
While this latest conviction carries a multi-million-dollar price tag, it is far from Agbeyome’s first brush with the law.
Federal authorities noted that Agbeyome was already subject to a final order of removal from the United States.
His extensive “rap sheet” across various jurisdictions includes previous arrests and convictions for aggravated identity theft, commercial bribery, counterfeiting, and forgery and counterfeit credit card offences and prostitution.
By: Rainbowradioonline.com/Ghana
