21° and Partly Cloudy
Man Sentenced to 41 Months for Laundering Fraud Proceeds from Business Email Schemes
Defendant laundered more than $1 million in wire fraud funds, must pay over $1.4 million in restitution.
NEWARK, N.J. – A 65-year-old Los Angeles resident has been sentenced to 41 months in prison for his role in laundering money obtained through business email compromise (BEC) schemes, Acting U.S. Attorney Vikas Khanna announced. Charles Singleton appeared before U.S. District Judge Madeline Cox Arleo, who imposed the prison term and added three years of supervised release. Singleton is further required to forfeit over $1.1 million of proceeds tied to the conspiracy and pay $1,469,003 in restitution to his victims.
Court records and statements presented during Singleton’s plea hearing detail how, between September 2018 and August 2020, Singleton conspired with others to launder funds stolen from businesses and individuals through business email compromises. In such BEC schemes, fraudsters “spoof,” hack, or otherwise compromise legitimate email accounts to trick employees and those involved in high-dollar financial transactions into sending wire transfers to accounts controlled by the perpetrators.
Business Accounts for Money Laundering: Singleton established multiple business bank accounts under the names of companies he controlled. These accounts received the illicitly obtained wire funds from the BEC conspiracies.
Further Transfers: Singleton and co-conspirators then withdrew or moved the money among different accounts, keeping each other informed of the account numbers and balances.
Fraudulent Contracts: At least one transaction involved $70,000, for which Singleton allegedly concocted a fake contract to disguise the illegal source of funds.
Sentencing and Financial Penalties
After his guilty plea to conspiracy to commit money laundering (Count One of the Indictment), the court handed down:
- 41 months in federal prison,
- three years of supervised release,
- forfeiture of more than $1.1 million linked to the conspiracy, and
- $1,469,003 in restitution owed to individuals and companies victimized by the scams.
Acting U.S. Attorney Khanna commended the Woodland Park FBI Office—led by Acting Special Agent in Charge Terence G. Reilly in Newark—for dismantling the ring and stopping Singleton’s activity. Assistant U.S. Attorney Farhana C. Melo, of the Economic Crimes Unit in Newark, prosecuted the case. The conviction highlights law enforcement’s commitment to protecting businesses and individuals from sophisticated online fraud schemes that cost billions of dollars globally each year.
With this sentencing, federal authorities reaffirm their zero-tolerance stance on money laundering and BEC scams, warning would-be criminals that violators will face substantial prison terms and costly financial penalties.
