Columbus man pleads guilty to conspiring to launder $1M in business email scam proceeds

Date: Sept. 28, 2026

Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov

Columbus, OH – A Columbus man pleaded guilty in federal court here today, admitting he received and laundered more than $1 million in proceeds of a business email compromise scam.

Benjamin O. Alexander pleaded guilty to conspiring to commit money laundering.

According to court documents, from June until October 2020, Alexander conspired to launder proceeds from a scheme related to a contract for personal protective equipment (PPE) for a health-care provider in response to COVID-19. In June 2020, workers at the New Jersey health-care provider received email messages purporting to be from the contracted safety-equipment supplier and requesting payments be sent to a new bank account. 

The new bank account where the health-care provider was directed to send payments was one controlled by Alexander in the name of a business he established in April 2019 called BOA Building Maintenance and Cleaning Services LLC. 

As a result of the business email fraud scheme, four ACH transfers were sent to Alexander’s bank account totaling approximately $1.1 million. Alexander then quickly withdrew the money via official checks, cash withdrawals, ACH payments and other transactions, in order to launder the funds.

Alexander was indicted by a federal grand jury in July 2025. 

Conspiring to commit money laundering is a federal crime punishable by up to 20 years in prison. 

Dominick S. Gerace II, United States Attorney for the Southern District of Ohio, and Todd Strom, Acting Special Agent in Charge, Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) announced the charges. Assistant United States Attorney Peter K. Glenn-Applegate is representing the United States in this case.

On April 7, the Department of Justice announced the creation of the National Fraud Enforcement Division (“Fraud Division”). The Fraud Division is investigating and prosecuting those who commit fraud against the American people. The Department’s work to combat fraud supports President Trump’s Task Force to Eliminate Fraud, a whole-of-government effort chaired by Vice President J.D. Vance to eliminate fraud, waste, and abuse within Federal benefit programs.

IRS-CI is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. It is the only federal law enforcement agency with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code. IRS-CI has 16 field offices located across the U.S. and maintains an international presence through attaché posts abroad.