Australian ‘mule’ convicted
A Brisbane man was convicted in September 2007 for his part in a ‘mule’ scam, where he laundered money for an international crime syndicate that had illegally taken money from unsuspecting Australian bank account holders.
Jason Aaron Columbus contacted the crime syndicate after researching mule scams on the internet. The syndicate hacked into bank accounts and transferred a total of $95,000 to accounts set up by Columbus and his partner. Columbus pleaded guilty to dealing in proceeds of crime worth more than $10,000 and using a telecommunications network to commit a crime, and was sentenced to prison for 15 months.
Columbus was caught after being tracked by bank security staff and the Australian High Tech Crime Centre, which closely monitors mule scams and other high-tech criminal activity.
