Man Arrested In $8.5Mln Business Fraud Scheme Sent Funds To Russia - US Justice Dept.

Florida resident Igor Buzyukov was arrested on charges of laundering $8.5 million in a business fraud scheme and sending funds to bank accounts in Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, the Justice Department said in a press release

NEW YORK (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 21st February, 2019) Florida resident Igor Buzyukov was arrested on charges of laundering $8.5 million in a business fraud scheme and sending funds to bank accounts in Russia, Turkey and Ukraine, the Justice Department said in a press release.

"A Florida man was arrested today on charges that he laundered funds related to an $8.5 million business account takeover scheme with ties to Eastern Europe, US," the release said on Wednesday. "He is scheduled to appear tomorrow [Thursday] in Miami Federal court."

According to the complaint, between February and July 2018 the 51-year old Buzyukov and co-conspirators were a part of business account takeover scheme targeting Company 1, a financial technology company located in San Jose, California.

The scheme involved Buzyukov reaching out to Company-1 on behalf of victims' companies and requesting to add an unauthorized bank account to the victims' Company-1 account to receive payments. The unauthorized bank accounts were controlled by Buzyukov. After the receipt of the funds, he would then allegedly transfer the funds to various accounts in Russia, Ukraine and Turkey, according to the complaint.

The maximum sentence for money laundering charges are 20 years in prison and a fine of $500,000 or twice the value of the property involved, whichever is greater, according to the Justice Department.