Federal agents arrested a Columbus man Tuesday on charges that he received and laundered more than $1 million in proceeds from a business email scam.
A federal grand jury charged Benjamin O. Alexander, 42, with 29 counts of money laundering.
According to the indictment, Alexander laundered proceeds from a scheme related to a personal protective equipment contract for a healthcare provider during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In June 2020, workers at the healthcare provider received emails purporting to be from the contracted safety-equipment supplier that requested payments be sent to a new bank account.
Authorities allege that Alexander controlled the new bank account. The healthcare provider was directed to send payments to a business Alexander established in April 2019 called BOA Building Maintenance and Cleaning Services LLC.
The U.S. Attorney's Office says that as a result, transfers were sent to Alexander's account and totaled $1.1 million.
Alexander then allegedly made many financial transactions to conceal the money's source.
Alexander could face up to 20 years in prison.