The U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS) announced on Friday the disbursement of over $115 million to 38,889 victims in connection with fraud schemes processed by MoneyGram International Inc. (MoneyGram). The victims, who are mostly older people, will get back all the money they lost.
“This distribution of $115.8 million to nearly 40,000 victims—each of whom is being fully compensated for their losses—demonstrates the Department of Justice’s continued commitment to making victims whole,” said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth A. Polite, Jr., of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division. “This is an example of how the department will use every tool at its disposal, including in corporate criminal matters, to provide justice to victims.”
MoneyGram originally entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Department of Justice in 2012 for willfully failing to maintain an effective anti-money laundering programme and aiding and abetting fraud schemes that generally targeted the elderly and other vulnerable groups. In November 2018, MoneyGram agreed to extend its DPA, implemented additional enhanced compliance obligations, and forfeited $125 million, representing the volume of consumer fraud transactions it processed during the DPA term. The USPIS is using these forfeited funds to compensate the victims of the fraud through the remission process. MoneyGram completed its DPA in May 2021.
“This $115 million payout gives some financial justice to the many people who were hurt by fraudsters who took advantage of them,” said USPIS Philadelphia Division Inspector in Charge Christopher A. Nielsen.
“The USPIS is proud to be part of this exemplary collaborative effort with our law enforcement and regulatory partners, particularly the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and the Federal Trade Commission (FTC), to facilitate a process where victims receive restitution.”
“Working together with the skilled and dedicated investigators of the USPIS, the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and the FTC, we have achieved outstanding results,” said U.S. Attorney Gerard M. Karam for the Middle District of Pennsylvania. “This $115.8 million disbursement to over 38,000 victims demonstrates the commitment to compensate and serve justice to the victims of these frauds.”
The USPIS is managing victim remission. The victim compensation, in this case, would not have been possible without the extraordinary efforts of the USPIS Philadelphia Division’s Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, office, which investigated the case, and the Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section’s Bank Integrity Unit and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Middle District of Pennsylvania, who prosecuted the case.
