VESTAVIA HILLS, Ala. (WIAT) — A Vestavia Hills man has been charged with laundering approximately $2.3 million through a bogus business email scheme, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Robert Carlton Howard, 39, was charged in a seven-count indictment with money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering, U.S. Attorney Prim F. Escalona announced in a press release Thursday.
From at least July 2021 to August 2021, Howard allegedly participated in a scheme to impersonate the company’s third-party vendors using email accounts. The accounts were created to trick companies into transferring large sums of money to bank accounts and were controlled by the people running the scheme.
Howard is believed to have opened and controlled at least one bank account and received approximately $2.3 million within two days from the scheme. Howard then allegedly quickly converted the funds into cryptocurrency, which were then transferred to other members of the scheme and his bank accounts.
If convicted, Howard could face up to 20 years in prison. The FBI investigated the case, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan “Jack” Harrington is prosecuting the case.