Federal prosecutors in Boston announced Wednesday their efforts to assist a union in recovering approximately $5.3 million stolen through a sophisticated business email compromise (BEC) scheme.

The union, headquartered in Boston's Dorchester neighborhood, fell victim to the scheme, which involved a spoofed email that led to the unauthorized transfer of $6.4 million to fraudulent bank accounts.

The government's investigation revealed that the funds were redirected to various financial institutions, including a cryptocurrency exchange and foreign accounts in China, Singapore, and Nigeria. Fortunately, about $5.3 million of the stolen money was frozen in domestic U.S. accounts at JPMorgan Chase and Texas Bank and Trust. These funds are believed to be proceeds from wire fraud or money laundering, and the government is working to return them to the union.

Acting Massachusetts U.S. Attorney Joshua S. Levy highlighted the severity of BEC fraud schemes, noting the significant financial and emotional harm they cause by exploiting trusted communication channels. "Today's civil forfeiture action demonstrates that when victims report such misconduct to the authorities, there may be steps we can take to recover stolen funds," Levy said. "We hope today's action helps restore some level of stability and justice for those impacted by fraud."

The scheme utilized "money mules" to facilitate the movement of the stolen funds through various bank accounts. In one case, the mules convinced an individual to share their bank account details by claiming that a $17 million gift was awaiting them at a European bank.

In January 2023, the alleged perpetrator's email, which closely resembled those from the union's consultant but differed by one letter, requested the multi-million-dollar transfer. The union representative, believing the email to be legitimate, transferred the funds on January 30, 2023, to an account provided by the perpetrator.

Subsequently, the perpetrator instructed the account holder to distribute the funds, transferring $900,000 to another individual, $4.4 million to a JPMorgan Chase account, $750,000 to yet another person, and $200,000 to another recipient, while keeping $100,000 for themselves.

The government has not yet identified the perpetrator of the fraud scheme.

The federal government is represented by Matthew M. Lyons of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Massachusetts, along with Jasmin Salehi Fashami and Adrienne E. Rosen from the Department of Justice.

The case is titled United States of America v. Approximately $143,586.44 seized from JPMorgan Chase Account Number XXXXX8228 et al., case number 1:24-cv-11467, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts.