Prison For Middletown Man Who Helped African Internet Scammers

MIDDLETOWN, NJ — On Thursday, a Middletown man was sentenced to five years in a federal prison for laundering money on behalf of a South African group of Internet scammers known as Black Axe.

Andrew Suarez, 30, of Middletown, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. He was sentenced Thursday in Trenton federal court. His prison term was announced in this Dec. 14 press release by U.S. Attorneys.

Black Axe is not a name known to many Americans: They are an African criminal network whose members are responsible for Internet-based fraud schemes, said U.S. Attorney Philip Sellinger. According to their Wikipedia page, they are responsible for many of the Internet romance scams and Nigerian bank account scams. Black Axe originated in Nigeria.

Suarez served as the American point person for Black Axe's operations: From August 2017 through December 2017, he opened up bank accounts in America, which were used to deposit the profits from Black Axe's successful Internet fraud schemes. One of the names Black Axe operated under online was Abravoo Trading Company.

He transferred the fraud profits to other U.S. bank accounts and wired proceeds back to bank accounts owned by Black Axe in Cape Town. To avoid detection, Suarez changed the information on some of his bank accounts, so the accounts listed the name and address of their victims.

In total, federal prosecutors say Suarez helped Black Axe steal approximately $525,000 through Internet scams.

Suarez was initially charged with aggravated identity theft, which has a maximum prison term of 20 years if convicted. But he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge, ostensibly for a shorter prison sentence.

This case was investigated by special agents of the FBI out of their Red Bank office and the U.S. Secret Service’s Newark division. The Monmouth County Prosecutor's team also assisted.

Initial Patch report: Middletown Man Charged With Laundering Money For African Crime Ring (Oct. 2022)