UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

v.

OI,ALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr.

Woodbery,"

UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT

NORTHERN DTSTRICT OF ILLINOIS JUD$E (3F-TTt_HI"dtAn$

EASTERN DIVISION

MAGI STRATE JUDGE KIII,{

Case No. 20 CR 318

Violation: Tit1e 18, United

States Code, Section 1343

INDICTMENT

F'9fu@ 3)

o) COUNT ONE

JUL I 5 2020

The SPECIAL JANUARY 2019 GRAND JURY charges: .-n THOMAS G BRUTON -1

1. At times material to this indictment: cLER(u's' DlsrRlcrcouRT

a. Defendant OLALEKAN JACOB PONLE ("PONLE"), also known

as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery," resided in South Africa and Dubai, United Arab

Emirates.

b. Individual A resided in PaIm Beach Gardens, Florida.

c. Individual B resided in Jupiter, Florida.

d. Individual G resided in Frankfort, Delaware.

e. Victim Company A was located in Chicago, Illinois; Victim

Company B was located in Mclean, Virginia; Victim Company G was located in

Kansas City, Missouri;Victim Company H was located in Great Bend, Kansas;Victim

Company I was located in Southfield, Michigan; Victim Company L was located in

Santa Ana, California; and Victim Company M was located in Tampa, Florida

(collectively, the "Victim Companies").

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Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency, or virtual currency. Bitcoin is

not issued by any government, bank, or company; it is instead generated and

controlled through computer software operating on a decentralized peer-to-peer

network. Bitcoin transactions are recorded in the Bitcoin blockchain. The blockchain

is a distributed public ledger, run by the decentralized network, containing

immutable and historical record of every bitcoin transaction. Bitcoin is stored

wallets, which can be either hardware- or sofbware-based.

g. PONLE used and controlled the bitcoin wallet

l6AtGJbaxL?kmzx4mWSocpT2ysTWxmacWn ("the 16AtGJ BTC Wallet"), which

was serviced by Blockchain.com, headquartered in Luxembourg.

h. Individual A used and controlled the Gemini Trust

cryptocurrency exchange account ending in 9581 ("the 9581 exchange account").

Individual B used and controlled the following accounts:

i. The Suntrust Bank business checking account ending

8208, doing business as a company name that was the same as a Victim Company

supplier (the "8208 account"); and

ii. the Bitcoin hardware wallet assigned device number

6F1AB49904EC49D622A5D9Bl("the 6F1AB BTC Wallet");

j. Individual G used and controlled the PNC business checking

account ending in 0495 doing business as a company name that was the same as

Victim Company H (the "0495 account").

an

in

1n

B

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k. The Federal Bureau of Investigation used and controlled the

business checking account ending in 4784 (the "4784 account"), which was held in

Illinois.

1. Unbeknownst to PONLE, an individual who was an online covert

employee (OCE) of the FBI was communicating with PONLE.

2. Beginning no later than in or around January 20L9, and continuing until

in or around September 2019, at Chicago, in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern

Division, and elsewhere,

OLALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery,"

defendant herein, and others known and unknown, knowingly devised, intended to

devise, and participated in, a scheme to defraud and to obtain money from the Victim

Companies and other businesses by means of materially false and fraudulent

pretenses, representations, and promises, which scheme is further described below.

3. It was part of the scheme that PONLE and other co-schemers gained

unauthorized access to email accounts used by the Victim Companies and other

businesses. After accessing these email accounts, PONLE and other co-schemers used

the compromised email accounts or separate fraudulent email accounts to

communicate with employees from the Victim Companies or companies doing

business with the Victim Companies. The purpose of the emails was to induce

employees to wire money to certain bank accounts by falsely representing that the

wire transfers were related to legitimate business expenses. In reality, the requests

for wire transfers were not related to any legitimate business expense. Instead,

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PONLE had co-schemers, including Individuals A, B, and G (collectively, the "Money

Mules"), as well as the OCE, create bank accounts for the purpose of receiving the

fraudulent wire transfers from the Victim Companies and the other companies.

PONLE then instructed the Money Mules to send him the majority of the fraud

proceeds from the fraudulent bank accounts, including sending him proceeds via

Bitcoin.

4. It was further part of the scheme that PONLE and his co-schemers

gained unauthorized access to email accounts used by Victim Companies.

5. It was further part of the scheme that PONLE instructed Money Mules

and the OCE to open bank accounts in the names of both existing and phony

businesses in exchange for payment.

6. It was further part of the scheme that PONLE and his co-schemers sent

phony emails purporting to be from employees of the Victim Companies or from

companies doing business with, or purporting to do business with, the Victim

Companies. Certain phony emails requested wire transfers be made to certain bank

accounts, opened by Money Mules and the OCE, at PONLE's direction. For example,

PONLE and his co-schemers caused the following phony emails to be sent:

a. An email sent on or about January 9,20L9 that falsely purported

to be from an employee of Victim Company B requesting a wire transfer to a supplier

of Victim Company B;

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b. An email on or about February 11, 2019 that falsely purported to

be from a Victim Company A employee requesting a wire transfer to a Victim

Company A subsidiary;

c. An email sent on or about March l,20tg that falsely purported to

provide new bank account information for Victim Company H;

d. Emails sent on or about June 12, 2019 and June 19, 2019 that

falsely purported to be from a company that disbursed dividends for Victim Company

M requesting a wire transfer of Victim Company M funds; and

e. An email sent on or about September 6, 2019 that falsely

purported to be from an employee of Victim Company I requesting a wire transfer

from Victim Company I.

7. It was further part of the scheme that, in order to induce Victim

Company employees and other companies doing business with the Victim Companies

to wire money to a fraudulent bank account, PONLE and his co-schemers sent emails

to Victim Company email accounts or from Victim Company email accounts that were

often drafted to appear like prior, legitimate emails requesting wire transfers. For

example, some of the fraudulent emails and attachments sent by PONLE and his coschemers had some or all of the following characteristics:

a. the name of a legitimate recipient of a scheduled wire transfer;

b. the correct amount of a scheduled wire transfer;

c. the correct beneficiary account routing number for a legitimate

recipient of a scheduled wire transfer; and

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d. the name of a legitimate business as beneficiary of a wire transfer.

8. It was further part of the scheme that the fraudulent emails sent to or

from a Victim Company email address contained a fraudulent beneficiary account

number to receive the wired money. In reality, this account was created by and

controlled by one or more Money Mules.

9. It was further part of the scheme that, in order to conceal his identity,

PONLE used the alias "Mark Kain" to contact and recruit Money Mules in the United

States.

10. It was further part of the scheme that, in order to conceal his identity

and location, PONLE used encrytrlted messaging applications to communicate with

Money Mules and other co-schemers.

11. It was further part of the scheme that, in order to conceal his identity

and location, PONLE used voice over internet protocol applications, which made it

appear as if he was using a United States-based telephone number when

communicating by telephone with Money Mules in the United States.

12. It was further part of the scheme that PONLE instructed the Money

Mu1es to convert the fraud proceeds to Bitcoin and to send the majority of the fraud

proceeds from the fraudulently created bank accounts to the 16AIGJ BTC Wallet that

PONLE used and controlled.

13. It was further part of the scheme that PONLE used the fraud proceeds

for his own benefit.

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L4. It was further part of the scheme that PONLE and others

misrepresented, concealed, and hid, and caused to be misrepresented, concealed, and

hidden, acts done in furtherance of the scheme and the purpose of those acts.

15. On or about January 17, 2019, in the Northern District of lllinois,

Eastern Division, and elsewhere,

OI,ALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery,"

defendant herein, for the purpose of executing the scheme, knowingly caused to be

transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce certain

writings, signs, and signals, namely an interstate wire transfer of approximately

$188,191.50 from the account of Victim Company B, held in New York, New York

processed through the Federal Reserve System, to the 8208 account held in Nashville,

Tennessee;

In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

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COUNT TWO

The SPECIAL JANUARY 2019 GRAND JURY further charges:

1. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 14 of Count One of this

indictment are i.ncorporated here.

2. On or about January L7, 20L9, in the Northern District of Illinois,

Eastern Division, and elsewhere,

OI,ALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery,"

defendant herein, for the purpose of executing the scheme, knowingly caused to be

transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce certain

writings, signs, and signals, namely, interstate internet communications from

Florida to a location outside of Florida related to the transfer of approximately

33.13030959 Bitcoin from addresses associated with the 6F1AB BTC WaIIet to

PONLE's 16AtGJ BTC Wallet;

In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

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COUNT THREE

The SPECIAL JANUARY 2019 GRAND JURY further charges:

1. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through L4 of Count One of this

indictment are incorporated here.

2. On or about February L5, 2019, in the Northern District of Illinois,

Eastern Division, and elsewhere,

OI,ALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery,"

defendant herein, for the purpose of executing the scheme, knowingly caused to be

transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce certain

writings, signs, and signals, namely, interstate internet communications from

Florida to a location outside of Florida related to the transfer of approximately 340

bitcoin from the 9581 exchange account to PONLE's 16AtGJ BTC Wallet;

In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

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COUNT FOUR

The SPECIAL JANUARY 2019 GRAND JURY further charges:

1. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 14 of Count One of this

indictment are incorporated here.

2. On or about February 26, 2019, in the Northern District of Illinois,

Eastern Division, and elsewhere,

OLALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery,"

defendant herein, for the purpose of executing the scheme, knowingly caused to be

transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce certain

writings, signs, and signals, namely, a text message to Florida from a location outside

Florida that was from PONLE, using the alias "Mark Kain," to Individual B, that

stated, "I have a new name I need you to work on ASAP[.] [Victim Company H]";

In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

10

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COUNT FIVE

The SPECIAL JANUARY 2019 GRAND JURY further charges:

1. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through L4 of Count One of this

indictment are incorporated here.

2. On or about March 4,2019, in the Northern District of lllinois, Eastern

Division, and elsewhere,

OLALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery,"

defendant herein, for the purpose of executing the scheme, knowingly caused to be

transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce certain

writings, signs, and signals, namely, Brr interstate wire transfer of approximately

$415,000 from the account of Victim Company G, located in Kansas City, Missouri to

the 0495 account, held in Wilmington, Delaware;

In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

11

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COUNT SD(

The SPECIAL JANUARY 2019 GRAND JURY further charges:

1. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 14 of Count One of this

indictment are incorporated here.

2. On or about June L2, 2019, in the Northern District of lllinois, Eastern

Division, and elsewhere,

OI"ALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery,"

defendant herein, for the purpose of executing the scheme knowingly caused to be

transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce certain

writings, signs, and signals, namely, an email to Florida from a location outside of

Florida that was directed to Victim Company M requesting a $19,292,690.30 wire

transfer to a bank account ending in 6552;

In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Sections 1343.

L2

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COUNT SEVEN

The SPECIAL JANUARY 2019 GRAND JURY further charges:

1. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 14 of Count One of this

indictment are incorporated here.

2. On or about June L9, 2019, in the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern

Division, and elsewhere,

OI,ALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery,"

defendant herein, for the purpose of executing the scheme knowingly caused to be

transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce certain

writings, signs, and signals, namely, Brr email to Florida from a location outside

Florida directed to Victim Company M requesting a $L9,292,690.30 wire transfer to

a bank account ending in 1295;

In violation of Tit1e 18, United States Code, Sections 1343.

13

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COUNT EIGHT

The SPECIAL JANUARY 2019 GRAND JURY further charges:

1. The allegations in paragraphs 1 through 14 of Count One of this

indictment are incorporated here.

2. On or about September 6, 2019, in the Northern District of Illinois,

Eastern Division, and elsewhere,

OI,ALEKAN JACOB PONLE,

also known as "Mark Kain" and "Mr. Woodbery,"

defendant herein, for the purpose of executing the scheme, knowingly caused to be

transmitted by means of wire communication in interstate commerce certain

writings, signs, and signals, namely, an email to Michigan from a location outside

Michigan that was directed to Victim Company I requesting a wire transfer to the

4784 account;

In violation of Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343.

t4

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FORFEITURE ALLEGATION

The SPECIAL JANUARY 2019 GRAND JURY further alleges:

1. Upon conviction of an offense in violation of Title 18, United States Code,

Section 1343, as set forth in this indictment, defendant PONLE shall forfeit to the

United States ofAmerica any property which constitutes and is derived from proceeds

traceable to the offense, as provided in Title 18, United States Code, Section

981(a)(1)(C) and Title 28, United States Code, Section Z GL@).

2. If any of the property described above, as a result of any act or omission

by a defendant: cannot be located upon the exercise of due diligence; has been

transferred or sold to, or deposited with, a third party; has been placed beyond the

jurisdiction of the Court; has been substantially diminished in value; or has been

commingled with other property which cannot be divided without difficulty, the

United States of America shall be entitled to forfeiture of substitute property, as

provided in Tit1e 21, United States Code, Section 853(p).

A TRUE BILL:

FOREPERSON

UNITED STATES ATTORNEY

15

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