FISHERS, Ind. — Twenty-one people have been charged, including two from Fishers, for their alleged involvement in money laundering networks that stole millions of dollars from United States citizens thanks to a multi-year operation initiated in East Texas.
U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston of the Eastern District of Texas, William Smarr (special agent of the U.S. Secret Service's Dallas Field Office), and Inspector in Charge Thomas Noyes of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service announced Operation Crypto Runner, an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation into transnational cryptocurrency money laundering networks.
These networks facilitate the movement of fraud proceeds from victims in the U.S. to foreign criminal organizations, the U.S. Department of Justice said.
Fnu Ankush, 35, of Fishers, and Jenisha Katuwal, 40, of Fishers, were two of 10 people named in an indictment returned by a federal grand jury, charging them in a wire and mail fraud conspiracy.
According to the indictment, the defendants facilitated technical support schemes by creating a financial infrastructure in the U.S. that involved establishing shell companies with names intended to resemble names of legitimate companies.
The indictment says the defendants opened and controlled business bank accounts in the names of the shell companies, as well as websites to make the companies appear legitimate.
According to the indictment, the defendants persuaded victims to deposit, wire or transfer funds into designed bank accounts or to mail funds to designated addresses.
"These defendants orchestrated highly organized and sophisticated schemes to launder fraud proceeds through cryptocurrency," Featherston said. "Today's announcement sends a clear message that money laundering networks that service fraud schemes targeting American victims, especially the elderly, will not be tolerated, and those operating such networks will be held accountable. By acting as domestic money launderers for foreign co-conspirators, these defendants played indispensable roles that allowed foreign actors to reach from overseas to target victims in communities across the United States."
Noyes said Operation Crypto Runner started in the Eastern District of Texas by postal inspectors and the Secret Service.
So far, the operation has stopped more than $300 million in annual money laundering transactions, seized and forfeited millions in cash and cryptocurrency and identified thousands of victims, according to federal officials.
"Interagency cooperation is essential to be effective in disrupting organized crime," Noyes said. "I commend the exceptional work of our law enforcement partners and emphasize our agency's ongoing commitment to combatting fraud and money laundering schemes."
