RALEIGH — A Bladenboro man has been sentenced to more than seven years in jail for conspiracy to money launder more than a million dollars in an act of deceiving senior citizens across the country.
Murray McNeill Todd, 47, appeared before U.S. District Judge James C. Dever III on Friday. He had been charged March 5 with conspiracy to commit money laundering, and on April 8 he pleaded guilty to that charge.
Dever ordered seven years, three months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He has also been ordered to pay restitution of $517,379.
In a release, Robert J. Higdon Jr. said Todd stole savings, retirement and the future of the senior citizens upon which he preyed. Higdon is the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District, which was represented in the case by prosecutor Adam F. Hulbig.
“Prosecuting those who defraud our senior citizens is a top priority for the U.S. Justice Department and for federal prosecutors here in the Eastern District,” Higdon said.
The investigation, evidence and testimony showed Todd worked with one or more scammers in Africa over multiple years. The schemes were internet-based, including elder fraud, stolen identity tax refund fraud, and payroll diversion, the release said.
In one example Higdon’s office shared, a victim came into contact with someone posing as a U.S. soldier abroad. Financial assistance was requested, and the victim wired money to Todd.
Todd was also found to have been involved in a “significant number of payroll checks,” particularly from hospital organizations, being routed into his accounts, or accounts under his control. Todd accomplished this, the release said, by compromising the victim’s network with phishing and computer intrusion techniques.
Federal and state tax refunds were unlawfully deposited as well, investigators said.
The release said Todd “used a variety of means and methods to receive and transfer criminal proceeds in furtherance of the conspiracy. Among other things, Todd conducted transfers to international recipients in Nigeria and elsewhere through his own accounts and those connected to a wider network of ‘money mules.’ Todd also arranged the purchase of prepaid debit cards that were loaded with criminal funds. The funds, in turn, were wired overseas.”
FBI offices in Raleigh and Lexington, Kentucky, conducted the investigation.