6 indicted for wire fraud and money laundering | #phishing | #scams | #hacking | #aihp

NEW ORLEANS, La. (KLFY) – Six people, five of whom are from Louisiana, have been indicted for allegedly conspiring to commit bank fraud and money laundering.

The six individuals charged are:

• Ryan P. Mullen, 41, of Jayess, Ms.
• Duane A. Dufrene, 55, of Destrehan, La.
• Dillon J. Arceneaux, 31, of Marrero, La.
• Lance M. Vallo, 37, of Gueydan, La.
• Grant C. Menard, 35, of Kaplan, La.
• Zeb O. Sartin, 35, of Lafayette, La.

According to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Louisiana, Mullen and Dufrene conspired with Arceneaux, Vallo, Menard, and Sartin to use shell Louisiana companies with no assets to defraud a merchant cash company based in Georgia.

Mullen and Dufrene helped establish Arceneaux, Vallo, Menard, and Sartin as the owners of existing corporations and created fake vendor accounts for the corporations.

Mullen created false bank records, used an alias to hold himself out to be a broker, and supplied the victim merchant cash advance company with fake vendor accounts and false bank records to obtain funding, according to the press release.

The victim merchant cash advance company then began to electronically wire Arceneaux, Vallo, Menard, and Sartin millions of dollars in advances. They then laundered a portion of the funds by paying Mullen and Dufrene percentages of the funds.