Defendants Laundered Funds Fraudulently Obtained by Co-Conspirators Who Falsely Told Victims That Their Money Would Be Safe From Hackers if the Victims Sent Checks to Them
In federal court in Brooklyn, Yveler Marcellus, Felix Marcial, Asheem Henry, George Mims, Rahmel Thompson, Daquan Mitchell and Tatiana Williams were sentenced by United States District Judge Carol Bagley Amon in connection with their roles in a scheme to launder money fraudulently obtained from victims of a transnational telemarketing scheme, many of whom were elderly. The proceeds of the scheme were shared between the defendants and co-conspirators located abroad.
Marcellus, who was convicted of money laundering conspiracy and mail and wire fraud conspiracy at trial in September 2025, was sentenced to 70 months’ imprisonment. The remaining defendants pleaded guilty to mail and wire fraud conspiracy pursuant to plea agreements with the government. Marcial was sentenced to 66 months’ imprisonment. Henry was sentenced to 55 months’ imprisonment. Mims was sentenced to 42 months’ imprisonment. Thompson was sentenced to 42 months’ imprisonment. Mitchell was sentenced to 30 months’ imprisonment. Williams was sentenced to a year and a days’ imprisonment.
As part of the sentences imposed, the defendants were ordered to pay, in total, $12,488,884.33 in restitution. Additionally, the Court ordered the defendants to forfeit their ill-gotten gains as follows: Marcellus was ordered to pay $185,000; Marcial was ordered to pay $700,000; Henry was ordered to pay $240,000; Mims was ordered to pay $170,000; Thompson was ordered to pay $160,000; and Williams was ordered to forfeit a bank account valued at $229,274.02 and pay an additional $60,000.
Joseph Nocella, Jr., United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge, United States Postal Inspection Service, New York (USPIS), announced the sentences.
“This punishment was certainly warranted for the defendants who caused tremendous harm to the victims, many of whom were elderly or otherwise vulnerable,” stated United States Attorney Nocella. “Through their callous scheme, the defendants profited by moving millions of dollars of victims’ hard-earned funds through their accounts and other accounts that they controlled and transferring a share of those proceeds to co-conspirators abroad who coordinated the telemarketing scheme. Those who participate in fraudulent conspiracies and work with individuals who prey on the vulnerable will be held accountable for their crimes.”
“These criminals selfishly preyed on vulnerable victims to enrich their lifestyles; but they underestimated the resolve of the United States Postal Inspection Service to continue to investigate this case until every complicit person was held accountable,” stated USPIS Inspector in Charge Ketty Larco-Ward. “Postal Inspectors will work tirelessly to shut down schemes like this and any fraudster who seeks to take advantage of others. Too many seniors fall for these financial schemes, it’s crucial to protect them and their hard-earned money, and that’s what was done in this case.”
From approximately January 2022 through December 2023, the defendants and their co-conspirators participated in a scheme in which India-based co-conspirators contacted victims by phone and convinced those victims to send checks and money orders, addressed to the defendants and other U.S-based co-conspirators, to various addresses in the Eastern District of New York. The India-based co-conspirators fraudulently induced the victims, many of whom were elderly, to send checks to the defendants under false pretenses, including that the victims’ money was at risk of being stolen from their bank accounts. After receiving the victims’ checks, the defendants and their U.S.-based co-conspirators laundered the check proceeds through their own bank accounts and other bank accounts that they controlled, shared the proceeds amongst themselves, and sent the remainder of the laundered proceeds to the Indian-based co-conspirators. The scheme is estimated to have netted over $12 million from victims across the United States.
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