New York Woman Convicted for Role in Bank Fraud and Money Laundering Conspiracy
RICHMOND, Va. – Joan Marsh, 41, of Queens, N.Y., was convicted today by a federal jury for her role in a sophisticated scheme that involved fraudulently accessing home equity lines of credit and credit card accounts.
Neil H. MacBride, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia, made the announcement after the verdict was accepted by United States District Judge Henry E. Hudson.
Marsh faces a maximum penalty of 30 years on the conspiracy charge and six counts of bank fraud charges and a maximum of 20 years on the conspiracy and four counts of money laundering charges when she is sentenced on Dec. 19, 2011.
According to court records and evidence at trial, Marsh, along with her co-defendant Ayodele Adewale Onasanya, worked as a middleman in a sophisticated scheme whereby Marsh’s co-conspirators would fraudulently access home equity lines of credit and credit card accounts, and would transfer large amounts of money from those accounts into “money mule” bank accounts that were under the control of co-conspirators. The money mules would withdraw the fraudulent proceeds in cash, and the cash would be shared among the conspirators.
The evidence showed that Marsh’s role in the conspiracy was to recruit and supervise the money mules, and to accept the cash proceeds and distribute the cash among the conspirators. Marsh’s co-defendant, Ayodele Adewale Onasanya, pled guilty to Conspiracy to Commit Bank Fraud on September 19, 2011, and faces a maximum penalty of thirty years when he is sentenced on December 19, 2011. Other co-conspirators, several of whom testified at trial, have been previously prosecuted in the Richmond and Alexandria divisions of the Eastern District of Virginia.
This case was investigated by the United States Postal Inspection Service. Assistant United States Attorneys Michael C. Moore and Jamie L. Mickelson are prosecuting the case on behalf of the United States.
A copy of this press release may be found on the website of the United States Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.justice.gov/usao/vae. Related court documents and information may be found on the website of the District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia at http://www.vaed.uscourts.gov or on https://pcl.uscourts.gov.
