Third Defendant Sentenced in Money Laundering Scheme

MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Moises Amezcua-Cardenas, 21, Schofield, Wisconsin, was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 18 months in federal prison for his role in a money laundering conspiracy.  Amezcua-Cardenas pleaded guilty to the offense on February 24, 2022.  Because the defendant had already served that much time in custody, the sentence was considered served. 

In November and December 2020, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, together with local law enforcement, investigated a series of thefts by fraud involving individuals who used false pretenses to convince employees of businesses to collect and deliver the businesses’ cash-on-hand to individuals who were supposedly legitimate money couriers. Businesses large and small were targeted in the scheme and the loss to date is approximately $300,000.

Moises Amezcua-Cardenas was one of the individuals that picked up money from employee victims under the false pretenses that he was a legitimate money courier acting on behalf of the victim businesses. He also conducted wire transactions to redirect fraud proceeds back to perpetrators in Mexico. He and his co-defendant, Mario Amezcua-Cardenas, also transported $242,980 in fraud proceeds to another co-defendant Sinval De Oliveira in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on December 2, 2020. 

Co-defendant Mario Amezcua-Cardenas, who is Moises Amezcua-Cardenas’s brother, was sentenced to 2 ½ years in federal prison on May 18, 2022. Co-defendant Sinval De Oliveira was sentenced to 5 years on June 8, 2022.   All defendants were ordered to pay restitution. 

The charges against the defendants were the result of investigations conducted by U.S. Department of Homeland Security-Homeland Security Investigations, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Merrill Police Department, Wausau Police Department, Everest Metropolitan Police Department, West Allis Police Department, Stevens Point Police Department, and Marathon County Sheriff’s Dept. with special assistance from the Marathon County District Attorney’s Office. Assistant U.S. Attorney Meredith P. Duchemin prosecuted this case.