Cryptocurrency Accounts Seized in $2.3M Money Laundering Scheme
Source type: News article Author: Ben Benton Publisher: Chattanooga Times Free Press Date: 2026-04-12 URL: https://www.timesfreepress.com/news/2026/apr/12/cryptocurrency-accounts-seized-in-23m-money/
Overview
Reports on a federal civil forfeiture warrant filed April 2, 2026 in U.S. District Court (Chattanooga) targeting three cryptocurrency accounts held by Athens, Tennessee resident Linda Winder. Winder is alleged to have served as a money mule in a layered fraud scheme that laundered at least $2.3 million stolen from a Minnesota-based disability-services nonprofit via a business email compromise (BEC) attack combined with a romance scam.
Case Details
The Fraud Mechanism
- BEC attack: Unknown perpetrators defrauded a Minnesota nonprofit (providing transportation and home-based services for people with disabilities) of $2.3 million.
- Romance scam as recruitment: Winder — a widow since 2017 — was contacted by “Joe Milano,” an online persona, beginning in 2019. Over 2021–2023 she sent money to Milano and eventually opened cryptocurrency exchange accounts at his direction.
- Money mule role: Winder received large deposits (tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars) into her Wells Fargo account and forwarded them to her Coinbase account or through cryptocurrency kiosks. Some funds went to other financial institutions.
- Discovery: In October 2023 a family member found deposit slips from crypto kiosks totalling $162,730 in Bitcoin.
- Scale: FBI estimates Winder laundered no less than $2.3 million during the 2021–2023 period.
Legal Status
- Winder is not charged criminally; only a civil forfeiture warrant for three cryptocurrency accounts has been filed.
- Case filed by FBI Special Agent Sean Reid.
Money Mule Profile
The FBI affidavit defines a money mule as someone who transfers illegally acquired money on behalf of someone else — often recruited via romance or job schemes and asked to use personal bank accounts or open new ones to receive and redirect stolen funds.
Key Concepts Illustrated
- cryptocurrency as a laundering vehicle: Crypto kiosks and exchanges (here, Coinbase) enable rapid conversion of fiat to digital assets, obscuring fund trails.
- romance-scam + BEC layering: Two fraud types combined — BEC steals the funds; romance scam recruits the mule unwittingly.
- money-mule vulnerability: Mules are often unwitting or coerced participants; victims themselves of the romance scam while also enabling the larger crime.
Entities Mentioned
- fbi — Investigating agency; SA Sean Reid filed the affidavit
- coinbase — Cryptocurrency exchange where accounts were held