Carson man sentenced to more than a decade for role in cybercrime ring

A Carson man has been sentenced to more than a decade in federal prison for his role in an international cybercrime money laundering scheme, federal prosecutors announced Monday.

Valentine Iro, 34, is the main defendant in a massive 252-count federal grand jury indictment that charged 80 people. He pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering in October 2020. Along with his 135-month prison sentence ordered Monday, Iro must also pay more than $1.3 million in restitution.

Investigators found that from October 2014 to August 2019, Iro led an international money laundering network that fraudulently obtained more than $25 million through romance scams, elder fraud and phishing emails. Iro would frequently avoid detection from American authorities by using code words and an English-based Nigerian dialect, prosecutors said in a statement.

Iro and his co-conspirators collected bank account information from multiple cities across America, including Los Angeles, to use in his schemes. “Money movers” hired by Iro would often open bank accounts with specific names to convince victims that they were giving money to a legitimate business. The group would frequently file fake business name statements with the Los Angeles County Registrar/Recorder's Office in order to open those accounts, the statement said.

When victims would deposit funds into an account, the money would be laundered into other accounts or withdrawn. The money was often exchanged into foreign currencies and moved to Nigerian bank accounts.

“Defendant Iro masterminded this international money laundering scheme for years and, in the process, stole money and identities from hundreds of victims, including some who were led to believe they were in a romantic relationship only to learn they were being scammed,” said Donald Alway, the assistant director in charge of the FBI's Los Angeles Field Office. “As we continue to investigate this case and look for fugitives, we urge Americans to learn how to identify BEC (business email compromise), romance, and other schemes, which have increased dramatically in recent years.”

The investigation was led by the FBI Cyber Task Force, with assistance from the U.S. Justice Department and many local agencies.