The second round of distributions from the Western Union Remission Fund.
The Department of Justice distributed $40 million to 25,000 victims of fraud perpetuated through and by the Western Union Company. This is the beginning of the second round of distributions for victims of fraud conducted by Western Union employees.
Western Union is a global financial services firm that allows people to transfer money or exchange one country’s currency for another. In separate investigations conducted by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and the Justice Department, individual employees and Western Union branch owners were found to be using common scam tactics to defraud consumers of their money. The investigations also discovered that Western Union aided and abetted the schemes by not firing the individuals complicit in the schemes.
In 2017, Western Union simultaneously resolved a settlement with the FTC and entered into a deferred prosecution agreement with the Justice Department to make up for the ways it allowed fraud to perpetuate within its businesses. The company forfeited $586 million to the department, which is now being redistributed in phases to the defrauded victims.
“The latest distribution of the Western Union Remission Fund compensated thousands more victims harmed by predatory schemes,” said Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Criminal Division Nicole Argentieri. “Victim assistance is a primary goal of the Department’s Asset Forfeiture Program, and this latest distribution is a testament to the impact asset forfeiture can have in compensating and making victims whole.”
As the Lord Leads, Pray with Us…
- For Acting Assistant Attorney General Argentieri as she oversees the DOJ’s Criminal Division.
- For Justice Department officials as they disburse funds from the Asset Forfeiture Program to those who have been victimized by fraud.
Sources: Department of Justice
