RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — A Los Angeles-based businessman has been indicted on charges of money laundering in an email phishing scam that cost Virginia Commonwealth University $470,000.
A British man, Olabanji Oladotun Egbinola, was extradited earlier this year from the United Kingdom to face charges of fraud. Prosecutors allege that Egbinola posed as a representative of construction firm Kjellstrom and Lee, which has contracted with VCU in the past.
Egbinola allegedly managed to convince VCU to pay $470,000 into an account with the Bank of Hope, an L.A.-based bank that primarily serves the Korean-American community.
In August, when the charges against Egbinola were first announced, investigators did not name the individual who owned that account, but noted that the stolen money had been paid out in $7,000 increments to various clothing stores in L.A.
Now, in a new indictment, prosecutors have charged Hakhyun Chun, owner of EDHD Inc, with money laundering for his role in the scheme.
Bank records show that the account Egbinola convinced VCU to transfer the funds to had been opened in August 2017 by Samuel Chun, Hakhyun’s son, a year before the fraud took place.
From Dec. 21 to Dec. 26, 2018, starting a day after the fraud was completed, $450,000 was paid out from the account, using a combination of checks, wire transfers and cash withdrawals.
