2 men indicted for money laundering $2.4 million through cryptocurrency

TYLER, Texas (KETK) – Two men were indicted this week for cryptocurrency money laundering more than $2.4 million said U.S. Attorney Brit Featherston.

Randall V. Rule, 71, of Reno, Nevada, and Gregory C. Nysewander, 64, formerly of Irmo, South Carolina were charged with money laundering conspiracy, money laundering and conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act. The pair allegedly worked with others to launder money from wire fraud and mail fraud through cryptocurrency, said authorities.

They also used money from romance scams, business email compromises, real estate scams and more and turned it into cryptocurrency, and the funds were sent to foreign and domestic accounts, according to officials.

“The defendants and their co-conspirators made false representations and concealed material facts, in order to avoid discovery of the fraudulent nature of deposits, wires, and transfers, such as providing instructions to co-conspirators and victims to label wire transfers as ‘loan repayments’ and ‘advertising,’” said the U.S. Attorney’s office.

Authorities also said the men also lied when they opened accounts and when they spoke to banks and financial institutions and made cryptocurrency exchanges.

The men also were also charged with not following the money services business requirements of the Bank Secrecy Act.

Rule and Nysewander could be sentenced up to 20 years in federal prison for each money laundering charge and approximately five years for conspiracy to violate the Bank Secrecy Act charge.

This effort is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.

This case is being investigated by the U.S. Secret Service and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathaniel C. Kummerfeld.