The Department of Justice announced that it has begun phase two of the remission compensation process to provide recovery for Western Union fraud victims.
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In 2017, Western Union entered into a deferred prosecution agreement (DPA) with the Department of Justice and agreed to forfeit $586 million. The Department of Justice previously distributed over $366 million to over 148,000 victims.
Because additional forfeited funds remain available in this case, the Department of Justice has reopened the petition process to potential victims who did not previously submit a petition for remission.
Victims of fraud who sent a money transfer through Western Union between January 1, 2004, and January 19, 2017, can file a petition for remission and receive compensation for their fraud losses.
The deadline to file a petition for remission is August 31, 2022.
Pursuant to the DPA, Western Union acknowledged responsibility for its criminal conduct, which included violations of the Bank Secrecy Act and aiding and abetting wire fraud, and agreed to forfeit $586 million, which has been made available to compensate victims of an international consumer fraud scheme.
Western Union simultaneously resolved a parallel civil investigation with the FTC.
According to court documents, fraudsters targeted consumers, including seniors, through multiple scams and convinced their victims to send money through Western Union.
Three specific scams directed towards seniors included the so-called grandparent scam, where the fraudster would pose as the victim’s relative in purported need of immediate money to avoid personal harm; lottery or sweepstakes scams, where the fraudster would tell the victim that he or she had won a large cash prize but had to pay fees, such as taxes, to claim the prize; and romance scams, where the fraudster would pose as an online love interest and request funds for a visit or for another purpose.
Certain owners, operators, or employees of Western Union locations were complicit in the scheme. Western Union aided and abetted the scheme by failing to suspend or terminate complicit agents and by allowing them to continue to process fraud-induced monetary transactions.
Western Union has fulfilled its obligations under the DPA, and the court granted the motion to dismiss the criminal information against Western Union. ■