Indictment — U.S. v. Clark

Record facts

U.S. District Court, Eastern District of Tennessee · No. 1:21-cr-00069-CEA-CHS · Doc. 1 · 2021-08-05 · Docket on CourtListener

Full text

FILED

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT AUG 05 2021
EASTERN DISTRICT OF TENNESSEE
AT CHATTANOOGA Clerk, U. S. District Court
Eastern District of Tennessee
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA ) At Knoxville
) 1:21-cr-_©?
y. )
CEA/CHS
) Judge
DONNA J. CLARK )
INDICTMENT
COUNT ONE
WIRE FRAUD

(18 U.S.C. § 1343)

THE GRAND JURY CHARGES THAT:

AT ALL TIMES MATERIAL HEREIN:

The defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, has been a resident of Benton, Tennessee at all times
relevant to the indictment. She maintained personal bank accounts at Wells Fargo Bank
(“WFB”), BB&T & Co. “BB&T”), and First Volunteer Bank (“FVB”).

Beginning in or before October 2020, the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, began
communicating with unknown entities on the internet purporting to be men interested in a dating
relationship with her. The defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, later began knowingly operating as a
money mule for these entities.

A “money mule” is someone who transfers illegally acquired money on behalf of or at
the direction of another. Money mules are often recruited via an on-line romance scheme or on-
line job scheme. Criminals use money mules to move money electronically through bank
accounts. They are asked by the criminal actors to use an established bank account, or to open a

new bank account, to receive money from someone they have never met in person. They are also

y

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asked to move physical currency, or to assist the movement of money through a variety of other
methods such as wire the money into a third-party bank account; “cash out” the money received,
via currency or cashier’s checks; convert the money to virtual currency (such as Bitcoin); convert
the money to prepaid cards (such as debit cards or gift cards); send the money through a money
service business (such as Western Union or Money Gram) or a money transmitting app (such as
Venmo or Zelle); or conduct a combination of these actions. The money mule may be told to
keep a portion of the money being transferred. Money mules add layers to the money trail from a
victim to a criminal actor.

Money mules can be witting and complicit in the transfer of the illegally acquired money.
The money mule may ignore obvious red flags or act willfully blind to the money movement
activity. The money mule may have been warned about the activity by a bank employee or law
enforcement. The money mule may serially open bank accounts because prior bank accounts had
been closed by banks due to the suspicious activity in the accounts. The money mule’s
motivation may be financial gain or misplaced loyalty to a criminal actor.

Criminal actors obtain money through various illegal acts, and they need someone to
move this money at their direction. Common criminal activities include romance scams, work
from home scams, mystery shopper scams, lottery scams, Business Email Compromise,
reshipping scams, IRS or law enforcement impersonation scams, credit card fraud, and drug
trafficking. Money mules help criminals launder their criminally derived proceeds by adding
layers of recipients to the money trail; and these layers complicate and negatively impact the
ability of law enforcement to accurately trace the money from a specific victim to a criminal

actor.

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After the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, began operating as a money mule for these
entities, she was warned multiple times over a series of months by family members and friends
that she was acting as a money mule who was laundering money and facilitating criminal activity
and fraud.

On or about June 21, 2021, an FBI special agent advised the defendant, DONNA J.
CLARK, that she was involved in the transfer of money obtained by theft or fraud, or possibly
even drug proceeds. The agent warned her that her bank accounts and prepaid cards she had
purchased were being used to receive and send stolen money or money obtained through fraud;
and that the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, is involved in illegal activity of money laundering
and operating as an unlicensed money transmitting business, both of which are violations of
federal law. The agent advised that the entities to which the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK,
were talking and for which she was transferring money were not likely from the United States,
that they were engaged in fraud and defrauding victims in the United States, and that she was
aiding them in the fraud by engaging in the money transfers, bitcoin deposits, and prepaid card
transactions. He advised her to immediately stop communicating with these entities and cease
all financial transactions for them.

The defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, acknowledged that she understood that she was
aiding criminal activity and she could later be arrested or charged with a federal crime if she
continued to engage in these activities and promised that she would cease all contact with the

entities and stop engaging in the transactions.

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THE SCHEME TO DEFRAUD:

Beginning in or about June 21, 2021, and continuing until on or about July 19, 2021, in
the Eastern District of Tennessee and elsewhere, the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, devised and
intended to devise a scheme and artifice to defraud others and to obtain money and property by
means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises. The scheme and artifice
to defraud and to obtain money so devised and intended to be devised by the defendant was in
substance as follows:

It was part of the scheme to defraud that beginning on or about June 21, 2021, the same
day she had been visited by the FBI agents, the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, re-established
communications with the entities that she had met online and described herein as well as new
online entities.

It was further part of the scheme to defraud that the online entities described herein
would cause funds to be deposited in the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK’s personal bank
account.

It was further part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK,
at the direction of the online entities, withdrew funds in cash or other financial instruments
from her accounts.

It was further part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK,
at the direction of the online entities, transferred and mailed cash and other financial
instruments to others identified by the online entities.

It was further part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK,

kept portions of the funds deposited into her accounts as payment for her services.

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It was further part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK,
lied to bank employees about the source of the funds she was transferring.

It was further part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK,
lied to representatives of FedEx shipping about the contents of the mailings she was
sending and wrote false information on the shipped package about the contents.

It was further part of the scheme to defraud that the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK,
purchased prepaid cards such as Steam cards and Green Dot cards. She scratched off the
numbered code on the cards, photographed the code, and sent back to the online entities.

THE EXECUTION:

Beginning in or about June 21, 2021, and continuing until on or about July 19, 2021, in
the Eastern District of Tennessee and elsewhere, the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, having
devised and intended to devise a scheme to defraud, and for the purpose of obtaining money and
property by means of false and fraudulent pretenses, representations and promises, did transmit
and cause to be transmitted by interstate wire communication in interstate commerce, writings,
signs, signals, pictures, and sounds for the purpose of executing such scheme and artifice to

defraud others in connection with the following transaction:

COUNT DATE AMOUNT PAYER PAYEE
1 07/16/2021 $39,292.50 Fora Financial | “SO” to the
via First account of
Horizon Bank | DONNA J.
CLARK via
BB&T Co.

All in violation of Title 18 United States Code, Section 1343.

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COUNT TWO
MONEY LAUNDERING
(18 U.S.C. § 1957)

THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT:

A. AT ALL TIMES MATERIAL HEREIN:

The United States Attorney re-alleges and incorporates by reference the allegations set
forth in Count One.

B. MONEY LAUNDERING:

On or about July 17, 2021, in the Eastern District of Tennessee, the defendant, DONNA
J. CLARK as specifically set forth below, knowingly engaged and attempted to engage ina
monetary transaction in criminally derived property of a value greater than $10,000, affecting
interstate commerce, which in fact was derived from specified unlawful activity, that is, wire

fraud in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

COUNT DATE MONETARY TRANSACTION
2 07/17/2021 $20,000.00 official check (#1003749082) from
BB&T bank account to DONNA CLARK

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1957.

[COUNT THREE ON FOLLOWING PAGE]
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COUNT THREE
UNLICENSED MONEY TRANSMITTAL
(18 U.S.C. § 1960)

THE GRAND JURY FURTHER CHARGES THAT:

A. AT ALL TIMES MATERIAL HEREIN:

The United States Attorney re-alleges and incorporates by reference the allegations set

forth in Counts One and two.

B. UNLICENSED MONEY TRANSMITTAL:

From in or about June 21, 2021, and continuing until on or about July 19, 2021, in the
Eastern District of Tennessee and elsewhere, the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, unlawfully,
willfully, and knowingly conducted, controlled, managed, supervised, directed, and owned and
attempted to do so, all and part of an unlicensed money transmitting business affecting interstate
and foreign commerce, (a) without an appropriate money transmitting license in a State where
such operation is punishable as a misdemeanor and a felony under State law, and (b) while
failing to comply with the money transmitting business registration requirements under Section
5330 of Title 31, United States Code, and regulations prescribed under such section, to wit, the
defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, transmitted on behalf of others known and unknown, tens of
thousands of dollars by means of electronic fund transfers, wire transfers, mailings and checks to
and through the Eastern District of Tennessee and elsewhere without registering as a money
transmitting business under federal law and without obtaining Tennessee money transmitting
licenses.

All in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1960 and 2.
[FORFEITURE ALLEGATIONS ON THE FOLLOWING PAGE]

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1.

FORFEITURE ALLEGATIONS

The allegations contained in Counts One, Two, and Three of this Indictment are

hereby realleged and incorporated by reference for the purpose of alleging forfeiture pursuant to

Title 18, United States Code, Sections 982(a)(1) and (2).

2.

Pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(a) and(2), upon conviction

of an offense in violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343, as set forth in Count

One, the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, shall forfeit to the United States, any property

constituting or derived from, proceeds obtained, directly or indirectly, as a result of the offense,

including but not limited to, the following properties:

a.

$460.00 U.S. currency seized from the residence of Donna J. Clark on July 19,
2021;

$20,000.00 official check (#1003749082) from BB&T payable to Donna Clark
dated July 17, 2021;

Funds up to the amount of $89,292.50 in BB&T Bank account number
1430001294316 held in the name of Donna J. Clark;

Funds up to the amount of $15,000.00 in First Volunteer Bank account number
2000294039 held in the name of Donna J. Clark; and

A personal money judgment in the amount of at least $110,125.50 in favor of the
United States and against the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, which represents
the proceeds the defendant personally obtained as a result of the offense of 18
U.S.C. § 1343.

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3. Pursuant to Title 18, United States Code, Section 982(a)(1), upon conviction of an
offense in violation of Title. 18, United States Code, Sections 1957 and/or 1960, as set forth in
Counts Two and Three, the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, shall forfeit to the United States any
property, real or personal, involved in such offenses, and any property traceable to such property
including, but not limited to, the following:

a. $460.00 U.S. currency seized from the residence of Donna J. Clark on July 19,
2021;

b. $20,000.00 official check (#1003749082) from BB&T payable to Donna Clark
dated July 17, 2021;

c. Funds up to the amount of $89,292.50 in BB&T Bank account number
1430001294316 held in the name of Donna J. Clark;

d. Funds up to the amount of $15,000.00 in First Volunteer Bank account number
2000294039 held in the name of Donna J. Clark; and

e. A personal money judgment in the amount of at least $110,125.50 in favor of the
United States and against the defendant, DONNA J. CLARK, which is property
that is involved in an offense in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1957 and/or 1960, or is
derived from proceeds traceable to the offenses.

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4, If any of the properties described above, as a result of any act or omission of the
defendant:
a. cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence;

b. has been transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party;

c. has been placed beyond the jurisdiction of the court;

d. has been substantially diminished in value; or

¢. has been commingled with other property which cannot be divided without
difficulty,

the United States of America shall be entitled to forfeiture of substitute property pursuant
to Title 21, United States Code, Section 853(p), as incorporated by Title 18, United States Code,

Section 982(b)(1).

A TRUE BILL.

IN OF THE

Francis M. Hamilton, I
Acting United States Attorney

even S. Neff
Assistant U.S. Attorney

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