Hingham Man Scammed Companies Out Of Thousands Of Dollars: U.S.

HINGHAM, MA — A Hingham man was indicted by a federal grand jury in Boston Tuesday after he scammed businesses out of hundred of thousands of dollars in an international money laundering scheme, according to the U.S. Justice Department. Yannick Minang, 26, was charged earlier this month with international money laundering conspiracy, the same crime he was convicted for last year.

According to court documents, Minang conspired with others to open bank accounts in Massachusetts for fake companies. Prosecutors said he used those accounts to target businesses that use wire transfer payments.

"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,"the U.S. Justice Department said in a statement.

Prosecutors said Minang and his co-conspirators scammed the targeted businesses out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and hid the money in off-shore bank accounts. Minang could face a 20-year prison sentence if convicted, but could serve jail time before that because of his previous conviction on five similar charges, which the U.S. Justice Department called a "business email compromise scheme." His sentencing will be in September.