A woman from Georgia was sentenced to jail time and probation for her role as a “money mule” in a large real estate wire fraud operation, according to the Ventura County District Attorney’s Office.
Jasmine Shante Faniel, 39, was involved in a scheme where scammers infiltrated real estate transactions by impersonating trusted parties such as escrow officers, real estate agents, and title representatives. The fraud typically involves sophisticated hackers who access email communications between legitimate parties, intercepting or manipulating messages to redirect funds meant for buyers, sellers, lenders, or even agents.
The scam targets various financial aspects of real estate deals, including closing fees, sellers’ proceeds, lender funds, and commissions. The legitimate parties, unaware of the fraud, inadvertently send money to “money mules,” like Faniel, who then launder the stolen funds for higher-ranking individuals typically located outside the U.S.
Faniel opened several bank accounts under the false name “Teresa Dennis” in March 2023 and used them to accept and launder money stolen from a Ventura County family attempting to purchase their first home. She received the stolen funds from her co-defendant, Abdoul Aziz Bah, and transferred most of the money to a bank account in Nigeria, where it was laundered through international auto auctions.
Faniel retained a small portion of the stolen funds for herself, while the remainder was sent overseas. During the investigation, authorities traced $33,500 of the stolen money to one of Faniel’s Georgia-based bank accounts.
Both Faniel and Bah were involved in laundering $201,000 stolen from the victims. Faniel pled guilty to receiving stolen property and money laundering on September 26. As part of her sentence, she was ordered to repay the stolen funds. To date, $38,500 has been returned to the victims.
Bah was sentenced earlier in September to one year in jail and two years of probation, and was required to pay full restitution, having already returned $5,000 prior to sentencing.
Faniel was sentenced to nine months in jail, followed by two years of formal probation.
The Ventura County District Attorney’s Office’s Real Estate Fraud Unit, along with the Ventura County Sheriff’s Office Fugitive Unit, investigated the case, which involved extraditing the defendants from Georgia.
Officials urge homebuyers to always verify wire transfer requests by contacting trusted members of the transaction to confirm their validity before transferring any funds.
