Delaware Man Pleads Guilty to Participation in International Sextortion and Money Laundering Scheme

A Delaware man pleaded guilty today in connection with his participation in a widespread international sextortion and money laundering scheme.

According to court documents, from May 2020 and through December 2022, Mohamed Diarra, 33, of Wilmington, participated in an international, financially motivated sextortion and money laundering scheme. Financially motivated sextortion refers to the practice of fraudulently obtaining a victim’s sexual photographs or videos, threatening to distribute the victim’s sexual material to others, and demanding that the victim pay money to avoid the threatened distribution. Diarra conspired with co-conspirators in Côte d’Ivoire who sextorted victims and utilized a network of Delaware-based “money mules,” including Diarra, to assist with laundering the victims’ illegally obtained funds. As a “money mule” for the conspiracy, Diarra collected victims’ funds into his own financial accounts, including accounts with peer-to-peer (P2P) payment transfer services and into financial accounts in others’ names which he controlled. Diarra also provided other co-conspirators with access to his accounts and recruited other individuals to serve as money mules to receive and transfer funds at his direction. Diarra and his co-conspirators used a variety of methods to collect and “cash out” the victims’ funds, including by receiving funds into the money mules’ P2P accounts they controlled, transferring funds to linked U.S. bank accounts, withdrawing the funds as cash, or transferring them to other money mule co-conspirators. Diarra and his co-conspirators also used a variety of methods to further transfer the victims’ funds, after they had been converted to cash or goods, to co-conspirators and others who were located in Côte d’Ivoire and elsewhere overseas.

Diarra pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering. He faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. A sentencing hearing will be set at a later date, when a federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Principal Deputy Assistant Attorney General Brent S. Wible, head of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney David C. Weiss for the District of Delaware; and Assistant Director Chad Yarbrough of the FBI’s Criminal Investigative Division made the announcement.

The FBI is investigating the case, with assistance from the Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs and the government of Côte d’Ivoire.

Trial Attorney Austin M. Berry of the Criminal Division’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section, Senior Trial Attorney Mona Sedky of the Criminal Division’s Computer Crime and Intellectual Property Section, and Assistant U.S. Attorney Briana Knox for the District of Delaware are prosecuting the case.

If you, your child, or someone you know is being exploited via sextortion, contact your local FBI field office, call 1-800-CALL-FBI (1-800-225-5324), or report it online at the Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3). Additional resources can found at Financially Motivated Sextortion — FBI. For more information about a related financially motivated sextortion case and if you believe you are a victim in this particular case, please also visit www.justice.gov/criminal/criminal-vns/case/united-states-v-hadja-fanta-kone-siaka-ouattara-sidi-diakite-almamy-moustapha-diaby.