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A Ukrainian-Russian dual citizen has admitted his role in an international money laundering operation that allegedly recruited more than 15,000 Americans to move funds stolen by hackers, federal prosecutors in North Carolina announced.

Oleg Korniev, 42, pleaded guilty Thursday to money laundering, computer fraud and identity theft offenses connected to Your Mule Cashout, a criminal network accused of concealing the origins of at least $10 million stolen from more than 750 U.S. bank accounts.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina, the organization relied on deception to turn ordinary bank customers into unwitting links in a global criminal pipeline. Recruits believed they were performing legitimate financial work for companies, but their accounts were allegedly used to receive stolen money and funnel it overseas.

Inside the Russian Hacker $10M Scheme

Prosecutors described Korniev as one of the network's leaders, responsible for helping establish its policies and procedures, managing staffing decisions and overseeing employee performance. He allegedly hired and dismissed workers, rewarded those who met expectations and disciplined those who did not. He also obtained illicit services to support the operation.

Your Mule Cashout allegedly provided hackers with a way to disguise money stolen from U.S. companies' bank accounts and transfer the proceeds abroad, primarily to Eastern Europe. In return, the laundering organization received a percentage of the stolen funds, prosecutors said.

The operation depended on a large pool of U.S. recruits to move the money. Those individuals were told their responsibilities involved accepting business payments through their personal bank accounts, withdrawing the funds and wiring them to overseas partners supposedly connected to their employers.

But the apparent business transactions concealed a different reality. According to prosecutors, the money came from cybercrime, and the transfers helped channel stolen proceeds to other participants in the laundering network. The recruits, who believed they were doing legitimate work, were never paid for their efforts.

Millions in Losses and Laundered Proceeds

Korniev's plea agreement acknowledged the scale of the alleged criminal activity. He admitted that Your Mule Cashout was responsible for more than $14.7 million in actual and intended losses involving confirmed victims.

He also acknowledged intending to launder more than $9.7 million in cybercrime proceeds and successfully laundering at least $7 million, prosecutors said.

As part of the agreement, Korniev accepted responsibility for fully compensating known victims for their actual losses. He also agreed to forfeit cash seized when authorities arrested him in the Republic of Georgia.

His guilty pleas covered money laundering, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, conspiracy to commit access device theft and aggravated identity theft.

Decades in Prison Possible

Korniev faces a minimum prison sentence of two years and a maximum of 50 years, according to prosecutors. The court has not yet scheduled his sentencing.

The case also follows earlier prosecutions of four other people connected to Your Mule Cashout. Those individuals were arrested abroad, extradited to North Carolina and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering, the U.S. attorney's office said.

Their sentences ranged from approximately 37 months to 63 months in prison. Each was also ordered to pay more than $9.1 million in restitution to victims in the United States.

DOJ Warns Money Mules and Recruiters

Federal officials emphasized that people who move stolen funds can play a central role in enabling cybercrime, even when the operation spans borders and relies on deceptive recruitment.

“Money mules play crucial roles in cybercrime, so the Justice Department pursues mules and their recruiters wherever they operate and however long it takes,” said A. Tysen Duva, assistant attorney general of the Justice Department's Criminal Division.

The FBI investigated the case with assistance from the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs, the FBI's law enforcement attaché office in Tbilisi, Georgia, and Georgian authorities.

Prosecutors did not respond to requests for additional comment Friday. The government is represented by Matthew A. Lamberti of the Justice Department's Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section and Matthew Warren of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of North Carolina.

Information identifying Korniev's defense counsel was not immediately available Friday.

The guilty plea marks a significant development in a case involving alleged cyber theft, international transfers and thousands of people recruited under false pretenses. With sentencing still pending, the case highlights how money laundering networks can use seemingly routine bank transactions to move stolen funds across borders and complicate efforts to recover victims' money.