Framingham Man Convicted On Wire Fraud, Money Laundering Charges

FRAMINGHAM, MA — A Framingham man was recently convicted for his role in a business email compromise scheme.

Gustaf Njei, 27, was convicted following a five-day jury trial of two counts of wire fraud, one count of structuring to avoid reporting requirements, one count of unlawful monetary transactions, and one count of money laundering conspiracy.

U.S. District Court Chief Judge F. Dennis Saylor IV scheduled sentencing for March 9, 2023. A federal grand jury indicted Njei in June 2021.

Evidence at the trial found that Njei conspired with others to open bank accounts in Massachusetts in the name of a sham company to receive the criminal proceeds of a BEC scheme.

"A BEC scheme is a sophisticated scam often targeting businesses involved in wire transfer payments," according to the department of justice. "The fraud is carried out by compromising and/or 'spoofing' legitimate business email accounts through social engineering or computer intrusion techniques, to cause employees of the victim company (or other individuals involved in legitimate business transactions) to transfer funds to accounts controlled by the scammers."

Njei’s co-conspirators used hacked and spoofed email accounts to trick the victims of the scheme into wiring hundreds of thousands of dollars to a bank account under Njei’s control, officials said.

Njei then transferred part of the funds to a bank account located overseas, while splitting the remaining funds with a co-conspirator in the United States.

“Online criminals spend their days targeting millions of victims with increasingly sophisticated but fraudulent emails. They just need to fool a few people into surrendering their life savings or business revenues to hit a pay day,” said United States Attorney Rachael S. Rollins. “Mr. Njei created a bank account in the name of a fake company. These victims sent hundreds of thousands of dollars and suffered real harm as a result of this cyber scheme. People deserve to feel safe and protected in their communities – whether in person or online. Today’s verdict shows that we will find and hold scammers accountable to the fullest extent of the law.”

“Last year, business email compromise scams cost consumers nationwide nearly $2.4 billion and here in Massachusetts victims reported losing almost $68 million. Gustaf Njei’s conviction today demonstrates the FBI’s commitment to holding accountable everyone who participates in these scams, which use lies and deceit to trick victims out of their hard-earned money,” said Joseph R. Bonavolonta, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division.

The charge of wire fraud comes with a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000.

The charge of structuring to avoid reporting requirements provides for a sentence of up to five years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000.

The charge of unlawful monetary transactions provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine up to $250,000.

The charge of money laundering conspiracy provides for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $500,000 or twice the gross gain or loss, whichever is greater.