From: customer service <theministryofforeignaffairsfed@gmail.com>
Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2024 04:29:06 -0700
Subject: Money was DONATED in your name. Email for more details.
Distribution of Funds Brings Compensation Total to More than $965
Million
The Department of Justice announced today that the Western Union
Remission Fund began its third distribution of approximately $66
million in funds forfeited to the
United States from the Western Union Company (Western Union and banks)
to approximately 6,000 victims located in the United States and
abroad. These victims, many of
whom were elderly victims of consumer fraud, will be recovering the
full amount of their losses.
This is the third in a series of distributions. The first two
distributions paid more than $300 million to over 142,000 victims, all
of whom received full compensation
for their losses. The Department of Justice anticipates authorizing
compensation for more victims in the coming months. Petitions are
accepted on an ongoing basis and
potential victims who have not applied for compensation will be
provided the opportunity to apply this year.
“This third distribution of funds from the Western Union forfeiture
demonstrates the Department of Justice’s continued commitment to
compensate and serve justice to
victims, many of whom suffered immense losses from this fraud
scheme,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kevin O. Driscoll of
the Justice Department’s Criminal
Division. “Divesting criminals of ill-gotten gains and returning
those funds to victims are the primary goals of the Asset Forfeiture
Program, which has provided over
$10 billion in forfeited funds to victims over the last two
decades.”
“Since 2001, our office, in conjunction with the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service, has been at the forefront of investigating and
prosecuting cross-border frauds where
global money services companies such as Western Union facilitate fraud
by transferring millions of dollars overseas into the pockets of
international fraudsters,” said
Acting U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler for the Middle District of
Pennsylvania. “The historic 2017 deferred prosecution agreement with
Western Union, and the payments
to thousands of victims to compensate them for their losses,
demonstrates our commitment to hold all responsible parties
accountable and to make all victims whole. I
want to thank all the prosecutors and agents who continue to work
tirelessly on behalf of the victims.”
“Today’s $66 million distribution continues our commitment to
ensuring justice for the thousands of victims who were financially
harmed by multiple fraud schemes in
this investigation,” said Postal Inspector in Charge Damon Wood of
the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Philadelphia Division. “We
are pleased that thus far over $350
million has been returned to approximately 150,000 victims, many who
are among the most vulnerable: the elderly. The U.S. Postal
Inspection Service is dedicated to
protect Americans and to ensure that all remedies are explored in
delivering justice.”
In 2017, Western Union entered into a deferred prosecution agreement
(DPA) with the United States. Pursuant to the DPA, Western Union and
banks had a criminal
information filed against it acknowledged responsibility for its
criminal conduct, which included violations of the Bank Secrecy Act
and aiding and abetting wire
fraud, and agreed to forfeit $586 million, which has been made
available to compensate victims of an international consumer fraud
scheme. Western Union simultaneously
resolved a parallel civil investigation with the Federal Trade
Commission.
According to court documents, in the scheme, fraudsters targeted
consumers, including seniors, through multiple scams. Three specific
scams directed towards seniors
included the so-called grandparent scam, where the fraudster would
pose as the victim’s relative in purported need of immediate money
to avoid personal harm; lottery
or sweepstakes scams, where the fraudster would tell the victim that
he or she had won a large cash prize but had to pay fees, such as
taxes, to claim the prize; and
romance scams, where the fraudster would pose as an online love
interest and request funds for a visit or for another purpose. In each
of these scams, the fraudsters
convinced their victims to send money through Western Union and bank
transfer.
Certain owners, operators or employees of Western Union locations and
and bank transfer. were complicit in the scheme. Western Union aided
and abetted the scheme by
failing to suspend or terminate complicit agents and by allowing them
to continue to process fraud-induced monetary transactions. Western
Union fulfilled its
obligations under the DPA, and the court granted the motion to dismiss
the criminal information against Western Union last year.
The Department of Justice, through the Asset Forfeiture Program, works
diligently to restore lost funds to victims of crime and acknowledges
the significant assistance
of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Philadelphia Division’s
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania Office. The victim compensation payments in
this case would not have been
possible without the extraordinary efforts of the Criminal
Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and the U.S.
Attorneys’ Offices for the Middle
District of Pennsylvania, the Central District of California, the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania, and the Southern District of
Florida. The FBI’s Los Angeles Field
Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigrations and Customs
Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Reserve
Board, the Consumer Financial
Protection Bureau Office of Inspector General, and the Department of
the Treasury Office of Inspector General provided valuable assistance.
More information about the Western Union compensation process is
available on the Western Union remission website at
www.westernunionremission.com <Suspicious hyperlink> .
Further questions
may be directed to the Western Union Remission Administrator by phone
at (917) 383-3720 or by email at :ramosmrsmaria@gmail.com
The Department of Justice announced today that the Western Union
Remission Fund began its third distribution of approximately $66
million in funds forfeited to the
United States from the Western Union Company (Western Union) to
approximately 6,000 victims located in the United States and abroad.
These victims, many of whom were
elderly victims of consumer fraud, will be recovering the full amount
of their losses.
This is the third in a series of distributions. The first two
distributions paid more than $300 million to over 142,000 victims, all
of whom received full compensation
for their losses. The Department of Justice anticipates authorizing
compensation for more victims in the coming months. Petitions are
accepted on an ongoing basis and
potential victims who have not applied for compensation will be
provided the opportunity to apply this year.
“This third distribution of funds from the Western Union forfeiture
demonstrates the Department of Justice’s continued commitment to
compensate and serve justice to
victims, many of whom suffered immense losses from this fraud
scheme,” said Deputy Assistant Attorney General Kevin O. Driscoll of
the Justice Department’s Criminal
Division. “Divesting criminals of ill-gotten gains and returning
those funds to victims are the primary goals of the Asset Forfeiture
Program, which has provided over
$10 billion in forfeited funds to victims over the last two
decades.”
“Since 2001, our office, in conjunction with the U.S. Postal
Inspection Service, has been at the forefront of investigating and
prosecuting cross-border frauds where
global money services companies such as Western Union facilitate fraud
by transferring millions of dollars overseas into the pockets of
international fraudsters,” said
Acting U.S. Attorney Bruce D. Brandler for the Middle District of
Pennsylvania. “The historic 2017 deferred prosecution agreement with
Western Union, and the payments
to thousands of victims to compensate them for their losses,
demonstrates our commitment to hold all responsible parties
accountable and to make all victims whole. I
want to thank all the prosecutors and agents who continue to work
tirelessly on behalf of the victims.”
“Today’s $66 million distribution continues our commitment to
ensuring justice for the thousands of victims who were financially
harmed by multiple fraud schemes in
this investigation,” said Postal Inspector in Charge Damon Wood of
the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Philadelphia Division. “We
are pleased that thus far over $350
million has been returned to approximately 150,000 victims, many who
are among the most vulnerable: the elderly. The U.S. Postal
Inspection Service is dedicated to
protect Americans and to ensure that all remedies are explored in
delivering justice.”
In 2017, Western Union entered into a deferred prosecution agreement
(DPA) with the United States. Pursuant to the DPA, Western Union had a
criminal information filed
against it and acknowledged responsibility for its criminal conduct,
which included violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and aiding and
abetting wire fraud, and agreed
to forfeit $586 million, which has been made available to compensate
victims of an international consumer fraud scheme. Western Union
simultaneously resolved a
parallel civil investigation with the Federal Trade Commission.
According to court documents, in the scheme, fraudsters targeted
consumers, including seniors, through multiple scams. Three specific
scams directed towards seniors
included the so-called grandparent scam, where the fraudster would
pose as the victim’s relative in purported need of immediate money
to avoid personal harm; lottery
or sweepstakes scams, where the fraudster would tell the victim that
he or she had won a large cash prize but had to pay fees, such as
taxes, to claim the prize; and
romance scams, where the fraudster would pose as an online love
interest and request funds for a visit or for another purpose. In each
of these scams, the fraudsters
convinced their victims to send money through Western Union and banks
transfer.
Certain owners, operators or employees of Western Union locations were
complicit in the scheme. Western Union aided and abetted the scheme by
failing to suspend or
terminate complicit agents and by allowing them to continue to process
fraud-induced monetary transactions. Western Union fulfilled its
obligations under the DPA, and
the court granted the motion to dismiss the criminal information
against Western Union last year.
The Department of Justice, through the Asset Forfeiture Program, works
diligently to restore lost funds to victims of crime and acknowledges
the significant assistance
of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Philadelphia Division’s
Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, Office. The victim compensation payments in
this case would not have been
possible without the extraordinary efforts of the Criminal
Division’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section, and the U.S.
Attorneys’ Offices for the Middle
District of Pennsylvania, the Central District of California, the
Eastern District of Pennsylvania and the Southern District of Florida.
The FBI’s Los Angeles Field
Office, IRS-Criminal Investigation, Homeland Security Investigations,
the Federal Reserve Board, the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau
Office of Inspector General
and the Department of the Treasury Mrs. Maria Ramos, Financial
Director of Inspector General provided valuable assistance about Money
was DONATED in your name. Email
for more details.
Yours Sincerely,
Mrs. Maria Ramos, Financial Director
Department of the Treasury
Standard Chartered Bank PLC
