KC Reporter

A Kansas City, Mo., woman pleaded guilty in federal court today to laundering more than $240,000 she unlawfully obtained from a New York business as part of an email compromise scheme.

Brianna S. Graves, 30, waived her right to a grand jury and pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Brian C. Wimes to a federal information that charges her with one count of money laundering.

By pleading guilty today, Graves admitted that she received a payment of $240,926 from ETS Contracting, Inc., located in Brooklyn, New York, as part of a business email compromise scheme.

According to the plea agreement, ETS Contracting was finalizing a contract with a vendor who was communicating via email with the firm. On Dec. 12, 2022, ETS Contracting received a payment instruction email they believed originated from the owner of the vendor company. The email instructed them to wire $240,926 to a J.P. Morgan Chase Bank account. However, the instruction email actually came from a different address that changed one letter in the domain name.

ETS Contracting authorized the payment on Dec. 18, 2022, and the funds were posted to the bank account the next day. The bank account belonged to Heavy Weight Maintenance LLC but was controlled by Graves. She obtained a cashier’s check for the full amount and deposited it into another bank account. Graves spent the money on car payments, vacations, cruises, airfare, and gambling.

On June 26, 2023, federal agents executed a warrant and seized $41,574 from Graves’s bank account.

Under today's plea agreement terms, Graves must pay $240,926 in restitution and forfeit an equivalent amount representing her crime's proceeds.

Under federal statutes, Graves is subject to up to 10 years in federal prison without parole. The maximum statutory sentence is prescribed by Congress for informational purposes; sentencing will be determined by the court based on advisory guidelines and other statutory factors after completing a presentence investigation by the United States Probation Office.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Paul S. Becker and investigated by the FBI and New York City Police Department.

___