Hingham Man Sentenced In International Money Laundering Scheme

HINGHAM, MA — A Hingham man was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison after pleading guilty to running an international money laundering scheme. Yannick Minang, 26, was charged with international money laundering, structuring, unlawful monetary transactions, concealment money laundering, and false statements. Minang will also be forced to pay $465,616 in restitution.

According to court documents, Minang opened bank accounts in Massachusetts in the names of real estate businesses. Prosecutors said he used those accounts to target people looking to purchase property through impersonating or hacking legitimate business emails.

Shortly before closing on properties, targets received emails from their real estate agents or title companies containing wiring instructions that directed them to send money to accounts that Minang and others had opened and controlled, prosecutors said.

But prosecutors said the emails were "spoofed," meaning they were made to appear to be coming from company representatives and real estate agents, but they were sent from email accounts created solely to carry out the fraud.

Earlier this year, Minang was charged in a separate federal indictment in connection with a similar, but different, business email compromise scheme. Prosecutors said Minang committed that crime while charges in this case were pending.