Business Owner Who was Arrested as Part of Operation Wire-Wire Sentenced to Seven Years in State Prison for Laundering Money in a Business E-mail Compromise Fraud Scheme

The owner of a North Hollywood business pleaded guilty today to two felony counts related to a complex fraud scheme involving more than $500,000 in victim losses. Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge David Horwitz immediately sentenced Jhonna Gutierrez Fueconcillo (dob 4/21/77) in case BA468299 to 7 years in state prison.

Fueconcillo pleaded guilty to one count of tax evasion and one count of money laundering, while also admitting to a special allegation that the losses in the case exceeded $500,000. As part of the plea, she was also ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $552,939, and she was also ordered to pay the California Franchise Tax Board $77,716 for taxes owed. The case was prosecuted by Deputy District Attorney Warren Kato of the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Community Cyber Investigation Response Team.

Jhonna Gutierrez Fueconcillo owned LG Enterprise in North Hollywood. During August of 2016, the company acted as a conduit to receive over $500,000 in fraudulently obtained proceeds and disburse it via cashier’s checks and cash withdrawals. Fueconcillo also never paid any state income tax for the fraudulently obtained proceeds. The business obtained the funds through a fraud scheme called Business Email Compromise (BEC). BEC is a complex, often multi-national, fraud scheme in which business victims are duped into wiring money to a criminal enterprise via email instructions under the false pretense that the wires are actually going to legitimate vendor accounts. This type of fraud is also known as “Wire-Wire” fraud.

Fueconcillo’s conviction is a part of “Operation Wire-Wire,” a coordinated international law enforcement operation that targeted hundreds in business e-mail compromise schemes. “Operation Wire-Wire” concluded earlier this month and resulted in 74 arrests in the United States and overseas, including 29 in Nigeria, and three in Canada, Mauritius and Poland. The operation, which was funded and coordinated by the FBI, serves as a model for international cooperation against specific threats that endanger the financial well-being of each member country’s residents.

This case is the result of a multi-agency collaborative effort that was investigated by FBI Los Angeles’ BEC Task Force and the California Franchise Tax Board. Investigating agencies from the task force include the San Bernardino Police Department; the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office and the FBI.

The FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office hosts a task force to address the growing threat of Business E-mail Compromise schemes which have caused dozens of millions in losses per month in Los Angeles alone. The agencies currently represented on the BEC Task Force include:

    FBI’s Los Angeles Field Office

    Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office

    Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department

    San Bernardino Police Department

    Orange County District Attorney's Office

    Ventura County District Attorney's Office California Highway Patrol

Farmington Man Pleads Guilty to Fentanyl Trafficking Charges

            CONCORD - Kyle Leavy, 32, of Farmington, pleaded guilty in federal court to fentanyl trafficking charges, United States Attorney Scott W. Murray announced today.

             According to court documents and statements made in court, in the fall of 2017, Leavy sold fentanyl to an individual who was cooperating with the FBI on three separate occasions at locations in Rochester, New Hampshire.  During the third drug deal, Leavy sold more than 40 grams of fentanyl.

      Leavy pleaded guilty to three counts of distributing a controlled substance.  He is scheduled to be sentenced on October 16, 2018.

             “Fentanyl traffickers pose a substantial risk to public safety,” said U.S. Attorney Murray.  “Because this deadly substance has caused major damage to our community, we will work tirelessly with our law enforcement partners to identify and prosecute those who are responsible for distributing fentanyl in the Granite State.”

            "With today’s plea, Mr. Leavy is accepting responsibility for his role in the opioid crisis. However, there’s much more work to be done. The  FBI’s Safe Streets Gang Task Force will not stop until we have leveraged every available resource to identify others like him who are flooding our communities with  fentanyl, preying on people’s addictions, and contributing to their deaths,” said Harold H. Shaw, Special Agent in Charge, FBI Boston Division.

            This matter was investigated by the FBI New Hampshire Safe Streets Gang Task Force.  The Task Force is comprised of the FBI, the New Hampshire State Police, New Hampshire Probation and Parole, and the Police Departments of Hudson, Manchester, and Nashua.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Shane B. Kelbley.

Attorney General Jeff Sessions Announces Uttam Dhillon as New Acting Administrator Of Drug Enforcement Administration

Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced the appointment of Uttam Dhillon as Acting Administrator of the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Dhillon will replace Robert Patterson, who has retired after 30 years of service.

"With one American dying of a drug overdose every nine minutes, there can be no doubt that we are facing the deadliest drug epidemic in our history," Attorney General Sessions said. "The work of the Drug Enforcement Administration is critical to fighting this crisis, and President Trump and I are committed to continuing to give it the strong leadership it deserves.  That is why I am pleased to appoint Uttam Dhillon as Acting Administrator.  Uttam is a dedicated public servant who has served with distinction in the White House, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security, Congress, and as a career federal prosecutor taking on drug traffickers at the highest levels.  I would also like to thank my good friend Robert Patterson for his exemplary service throughout his 30 years with the Drug Enforcement Administration, most recently as Acting Administrator."

Dhillon began serving in the role of Acting Administrator today.

Dhillon has had a long career battling drug traffickers and violent crime.  In 2006, Dhillon was confirmed by the Senate as the first Director of the Office of Counternarcotics Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security.  In that role, Dhillon served as the primary policy advisor on counternarcotics issues, focused on combating the connections between illegal drug trafficking and terrorism and developed regional counternarcotics strategies for DHS.

Prior to DHS, Dhillon served as an Associate Deputy Attorney General in the Department of Justice, where he chaired the Attorney General’s Anti-Gang Coordination Committee, and led efforts to formulate and implement Department of Justice policies and programs to combat violent crime and criminal gangs.  Earlier in his career, Dhillon worked as an Assistant United States Attorney in the Central District of California for 6 ½ years.  During that period, Dhillon was appointed to the Department of Justice’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force, and worked with federal and local law enforcement agencies to direct complex investigations of violent gangs and major narcotics trafficking organizations.   

More recently, Dhillon has served as Deputy Counsel and Deputy Assistant to the President.  Dhillon also has significant experience in the Legislative Branch, holding several senior roles including Chief Oversight Counsel for the House Financial Services Committee, Chief Counsel and Deputy Staff Director for the House Select Committee on Homeland Security, and Senior Investigative Counsel for the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform.   Both prior to and subsequent to his public service, Dhillon worked for several large law firms.

Dhillon received his law degree from Boalt Hall School of Law at the University of California, Berkeley, an M.A. from the University of California, San Diego, and a B.A. from California State University, Sacramento.