Hassan A. Abbas, 64, of Belgium, was convicted following a six-day jury trial of one count of money laundering conspiracy, one count of money laundering, two counts of unlawful monetary transactions and two counts of wire fraud.
“The defendant was part of a scheme that toyed with people’s emotions, deceiving them to take their money. The funds he swindled were supposed to be used as the down payment on a home or to fund a comfortable retirement,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins.
Between June 2017 and January 2019, Abbas and others defrauded victims through a series of romance, business email compromise (BEC), and other scams designed to trick victims into wiring money to bank accounts they controlled.
Abbas created sham corporate entities and opened bank accounts in the name of those entities. Under false pretenses, both individual and corporate victims were then instructed to wire funds into the accounts Abbas controlled. Some victims were in the process of buying homes and believed the funds were for that purpose, including two Massachusetts victims who were tricked into wiring money to an individual they believed was their real estate broker. Others, including a third Massachusetts victim, believed they were transferring funds on behalf of or for the benefit of their romantic partners. Corporate victims were targeted as part of the scheme as well and were deceived into remitting invoice payments to the accounts Abbas controlled.
Shortly after receiving the victim funds, Abbas transferred the funds to overseas accounts, domestic personal accounts or spent the funds on personal expenses.
The charge of wire fraud provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The charge of money laundering provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison. The charge of unlawful monetary transaction provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison.
He faces sentencing in September.