New York Woman Convicted in Multimillion-Dollar Scheme Sentenced to 84 Months in Prison

Defendant who carried out multiple scams in order to defraud victims of millions of dollars has been convicted.

The United States Secret Service, New York Field Office, announced that TETIANA BERRIORS was sentenced in the Southern District of New York to 84 months in prison for her role in a series of fraudulent schemes, including business email compromises (BEC), that targeted individuals, public institutions, government entities, and businesses located across the United States. The victims included, among others, a public research university in Pennsylvania, a housing developer in Texas, and a county-level government in California.

According to the indictment, public court filings, and statements made in court:

BERRIORS created over a dozen fraudulent bank accounts to launder funds, receiving funds from victims and then rapidly depleting those funds through cash withdrawals, wire transfers, and cashier's checks. Typically, the wire transfers and cashier's checks were made payable to shell companies that BERRIORS or her co-conspirators controlled. In total, BERRIORS opened at least 13 fraudulent bank accounts in the name of at least five shell companies using four different female aliases. Three of those aliases were identities stolen from real individuals.

As a result of the frauds, more than 15 victims were directed to transfer nearly $10 million to bank accounts under the control of BERRIORS. Out of those nearly $10 million, BERRIORS successfully stole over $3.5 million in victim funds.

BERRIORS, 50, of Smallwood, New York, pled guilty one count of money laundering conspiracy and was sentenced to 84 months in prison.

In addition to the prison sentence, BERRIORS, was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $3,649,454.81.
The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Mary Kay Vyskocil.

This case was handled by the Office's General Crimes Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew J. King was in charge of the prosecution.