Source : IRS website
The following examples of money laundering investigations are written from public record documents on file in the court records in the judicial district in which the cases were prosecuted.
Florida Man Sentenced in Separate Wire and Mortgage Fraud Conspiracies
On September 30, 2011, in Miami, Fla., Manetirony Clervrain, also known as “Kevin Rusell,” of Broward County, Florida was sentenced to 108 months in prison and three years of supervised release. On July 22, 2011, Clervrain pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud and one count of conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud in connection with two separate fraudulent schemes. According to court documents, between December 2005 and February 2006, Clervrain and his co-conspirators defrauded a number of companies by impersonating other victim companies and individuals to obtain lines of credit and goods and services from the retailers, resulting in losses of over $300,000. In the second scheme, between February 2007 and June 2007, Clervrain and his co-conspirators purchased 25 units at the Club Caribe Project, using bank loans obtained through fraud. Clervrain and his co-conspirators obtained more than $5.7 million in fraudulent mortgage loans and diverted the proceeds for their personal use, with one of Clervrain’s companies collecting $50,000 as “contractor dues” and “assignment fees” at the closing of each property.
Former County Sheriff Sentenced on Federal ChargesOn September 28, 2011, in London, Ky., Lawrence Hodge, former Whitley County Sheriff, was sentenced to 186 months in federal prison and ordered to pay $50,000 in restitution. In addition, Hodge was ordered to forfeit $64,897. Hodge pleaded guilty in May 2011 to conspiracy to commit extortion under color of official right, conspiracy to distribute oxycodone, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. According to court documents, Hodge admitted that on at least three separate occasions between 2004 and 2007, he conspired with Williamsburg defense attorney Ron Reynolds to extort money from individuals that the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department charged with felony drug trafficking offenses. Specifically, Hodge referred criminal defendants to Reynolds for representation. Reynolds, acting on behalf of Hodge, encouraged these same clients to make forfeiture payments and/or cash donations to the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department. The department received more than $55,000 through this scheme. Reynolds was sentenced in July 2011 to 27 months in prison. Hodge also acknowledged that he conspired with numerous drug dealers in the Whitley County area to distribute prescription pills over a seven year period. In addition, Hodge admitted to conspiring with a former bookkeeper for the Whitley County Sheriff’s Department to embezzle and launder nearly $65,000 of funds belonging to the department….