Latvian woman is one of 3 sentenced on money laundering conspiracy
A Latvian woman convicted of engaging in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, has been sentenced to one year in custody following her extradition from Norway and ordered to pay $11.8 million in restitution.
At the time of her sentencing, Lubova Burkute, 40, had served approximately one year in custody following her extradition from Norway, which means she received a sentence based on time served. In addition to restitution, she was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment to the Federal Crime Victims Fund.
Burkute was indicted for conspiracy to launder monetary instruments by a federal grand jury inJune of 2021. She pleaded guilty on Sept. 23.
According to court documents Burkute was engaged in a conspiracy with others from 2015 to 2021. Together she and others conducted financial transactions affecting interstate and foreign commerce, according to a news release from the South Dakota U.S. Attorney's Office.
Specifically, Burkute and her co-conspirators engaged in depositing, transferring, wiring, and withdrawing U.S. currency, foreign currency, and funds at financial institutions, which involved the proceeds of specified unlawful activity – wire fraud. Burkute and her co-conspirators knew that the transactions were designed in whole or in part to conceal and disguise the nature, location, source, ownership, or control of the proceeds of the fraud scheme.
Per the release, Burkute was a minimal participant in the conduct giving rise to her conviction, her co-conspirators, including Nathan Peachey and John Rick Winer, were two of the primary perpetrators of the fraud scheme and money laundering activities.
As to that conduct, Peachey and Winer, among others, informed investors that the monies provided to one or more of the co-conspirators would be used for charitable or humanitarian projects, oftentimes using religion or sovereign-citizen ideologies to entice and induce victims into investing money in the scheme. They also made promises that there would be a return on investments.
Peachey and Winer informed investors that the monies provided to one or more of the co-conspirators would not be expended on personal expenses. Investor money was not used for charitable or for humanitarian projects, and investors never received a return on investments relating to the monies provided to Peachey, Winer, or their co-conspirators.
The purpose of the conspiracy was to enrich the co-conspirators, all of whom amassed nearly $13 million, and then spent the fraud proceeds on a luxury residence in a suburb of Oslo, Norway, renovation costs on the house, a Mercedes Benz, nearly $4 million in silver, travel, and personal expenses. This fraud scheme impacted victims from around the United States, including South Dakota, Minnesota, Arizona, New Mexico, Florida, Colorado, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina.
Peachey and Winer were convicted for their roles in fraud, money laundering, and obstruction of justice conspiracies. Peachey and Winer were sentenced to 25 years and 21 years and 10 months in federal prison, respectively. Each was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release, pay nearly $11 million in restitution, and to forfeit a residence in Norway, a luxury vehicle, and approximately $4 million in silver coins.
Multiple agencies were involved in this investigation in the U.S. and abroad.
This article originally appeared on Aberdeen News: Latvian woman is one of 3 sentenced on money laundering conspiracy
