Canton Woman Charged for Role in Fraudulent Scheme

BOSTON – A Canton woman was charged on Friday, Sept. 27, 2019, in federal court in Boston in connection with an ongoing investigation into a business email compromise (BEC) scheme.

Bintu Toure, 26, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering conspiracy. Toure will appear in federal court in Boston at a later date. She is the second defendant to be charged in connection with this scheme, following the indictment of Yannick Minang in July.   

Toure allegedly conspired with others to open numerous bank accounts in Massachusetts in the name of sham companies, as part of an apparent BEC scheme. A BEC scheme is a sophisticated scam often targeting businesses involved in wire transfer payments. The fraud is carried out by compromising and/or “spoofing” legitimate business email accounts through social engineering or computer intrusion techniques, to cause employees of the victim company (or other individuals involved in legitimate business transactions) to transfer funds to accounts controlled by the scammers.

It is alleged that, through the use of fraudulent invoices and spoofed email accounts, Toure conspired to trick the victims of the scheme into wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars to bank accounts under her control. Toure and her co-conspirators then transferred funds from the accounts on to others located overseas.

The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater. The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release, and a fine of $500,000 or twice the amount involved in the transaction, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

United States Attorney Andrew E. Lelling and Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Field Division, made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney William B. Brady, of Lelling’s Criminal Division, and Jordi de Llano, Deputy Chief of Lelling’s Securities & Financial Fraud Unit, are prosecuting the case.

The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.