New Haven Man Charged with Operating Illegal Money Transmitting Business

Vanessa Roberts Avery, United States Attorney for the District of Connecticut, and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Boston Division, today announced that a federal grand jury in New Haven has returned an indictment charging WILLIAM McNEILLY, 55, of New Haven, with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

The indictment was returned on June 5, 2024, and McNeilly was arrested yesterday.  He appeared before U.S. Magistrate Judge Maria E. Garcia in New Haven, pleaded not guilty, and was released on a $50,000 bond.

The indictment alleges that McNeilly owned and operated Global Income Marketplace LLC (“GIM”) from a storefront in West Haven.  According to its Connecticut state registration, GIM was engaged in “website builders programming tech computer repairs and upgrades.”  McNeilly and another individual also operated Global NuMedia LLC (“GNM”), a limited liability company registered in Delaware.  McNeilly, who never obtained a license from the Connecticut Department of Banking to engage in the business of money transmission, opened up several bank accounts in the names of GIM and GNM, and a cryptocurrency exchange account in the name of GNM, and used the accounts to operate a business through which he exchanged customers’ cash, checks, and money orders for cryptocurrency, charging a fee for the service.

Between approximately July 2019 and June 2022, McNeilly exchanged more than $1 million in U.S. currency for cryptocurrency on behalf of customers throughout the U.S.  McNeilly knew that some of the funds involved in his illegal business were derived from fraud schemes, and the investigation revealed that cashiers checks from victims of romance fraud schemes were mailed to GIM and deposited into GIM accounts.

It is further alleged that, in February 2021, McNeilly was contacted by TD Bank and told that a $10,000 wire transfer to GNM was reported as fraudulent, and that he needed a license to operate a money transmission business.  Despite the warning, and that TD Bank closed the GIM and GNM accounts, McNeilly continued to operate his money transmission business through other GIM and GNM bank accounts.

The indictment charges McNeilly with one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of five years, and with three counts of making illegal money transactions, an offense that carries a maximum term of imprisonment of 10 years on each count.

U.S. Attorney Avery stressed that an indictment is not evidence of guilt.  Charges are only allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.

This matter is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Heather L. Cherry.