A dual citizen of Ukraine and Russia pleaded guilty in a US court for his role in a sophisticated money laundering organization used by cybercriminals.
The individual, Oleg Korniev, 42, was a leader of Your Mule Cashout (YMCO), an international network of money mules and internet infrastructure that allowed hackers to transfer funds outside the US.
According to court documents, YMCO allowed cybercriminals to conceal the theft of money from the bank accounts of US companies and transfer it abroad, primarily to Eastern European countries.
In exchange for the money laundering services, the cybercriminals paid YMCO a percentage of the stolen funds.
YMCO is estimated to have recruited more than 15,000 US residents as money mules, and to have laundered at least $10 million stolen from over 750 US bank accounts.
The organization deceived the money mules into believing they were making genuine transfers for legitimate companies.
It falsely claimed that the individuals would receive transfers from businesses to their personal accounts and that their job was to withdraw the money and wire it to overseas accounts.