Ukrainian-Russian dual citizen pleads guilty to helping run $10M money laundering ring

A 42-year-old dual Ukrainian and Russian citizen has pleaded guilty to helping run an international money laundering operation that moved millions of dollars stolen from U.S. bank accounts, the Justice Department announced.

Oleg Korniev pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit access device theft and aggravated identity theft, according to the department.

According to court documents, Korniev was one of the leaders of Your Mule Cashout, or YMCO. The Justice Department said the group recruited more than 15,000 U.S.-based money mules to launder at least $10 million that hackers stole from more than 750 U.S. bank accounts.

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Prosecutors said YMCO deceived U.S. residents into believing they worked for legitimate companies. The mules were told to receive business payments into personal accounts, withdraw the money and wire it to the fake company’s overseas partners. Instead, the department said, they were moving stolen funds out of the country, primarily to Eastern Europe, to other YMCO conspirators. Hackers paid YMCO a percentage of what they stole, and the mules never received payment, according to the department.

Court documents state Korniev helped develop YMCO’s policies and procedures, managed, hired and fired employees, rewarded and punished them based on performance, and secured illegal services that supported the group.

In his plea, Korniev admitted YMCO was responsible for more than $14.7 million in actual and intended losses by confirmed victims, according to the Justice Department. He also admitted he intended to launder more than $9.7 million and did launder at least $7 million. He agreed to pay full restitution to known victims for their actual losses and to forfeit cash seized from him when he was arrested in the Republic of Georgia.

“Money mules play crucial roles in cybercrime, so the Justice Department pursues mules and their recruiters wherever they operate and however long it takes,” said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division.

U.S. Attorney Russ Ferguson for the Western District of North Carolina said being outside the United States does not mean offenders “will get away with defrauding U.S. citizens and businesses.”

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FBI North Carolina Special Agent in Charge Reid Davis said the bureau has spent years working to unravel the operation and will keep pursuing “those who enable cybercriminals.”

Korniev faces a minimum of two years and a maximum of 50 years in prison, according to the Justice Department. A sentencing date has not been set. A federal district court judge will determine the sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other factors.

Four other people involved with YMCO were arrested overseas, extradited to the Western District of North Carolina and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, the department said. They received sentences ranging from approximately 37 to 63 months in prison, and the court ordered each to pay more than $9.1 million in restitution.

Senior Counsel Matthew A. Lamberti of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Warren for the Western District of North Carolina are prosecuting the case. The FBI is investigating. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs, the FBI Office of the Law Enforcement Attache in Tbilisi and Georgian law enforcement authorities, including the Prosecutor’s Office of Georgia, provided significant assistance.

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