​A Ukrainian-Russian dual citizen has pleaded guilty to running a massive money laundering operation that laundered millions for cybercriminals worldwide.

42-year-old Oleg Korniev was one of the leaders of Your Mule Cashout (YMCO), a criminal organization that has operated since September 2007 and used more than 15,000 money mules from the United States.

Four other individuals who were involved with YMCO were arrested overseas more than a decade ago, extradited to the Western District of North Carolina, and pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit money laundering. They received prison sentences ranging from 37 to 63 months and were also ordered to each pay more than $9.1 million in restitution to U.S. victims.

Korniev managed, hired, and fired YMCO employees; rewarded or punished them based on performance; and helped develop policies and procedures for the money laundering operation.

According to court documents, YMCO recruited U.S. residents as money mules through spam emails from fake companies, with each mule going through what appeared to be a legitimate hiring process and being told they would process payments for legitimate businesses.

Cybercriminals sent stolen money to the mules' bank accounts, and the mules allegedly wired the illicit funds through Western Union and MoneyGram to "cash-out contractors" in Moldova, Ukraine, Russia, or Latvia.

YMCO also allegedly ran similar schemes in Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom, and Australia, processing more than $10 million stolen by cybercrime gangs from over 750 U.S. bank accounts at more than 35 banks.

"Money mules play crucial roles in cybercrime, so the Justice Department pursues mules and their recruiters wherever they operate and however long it takes," said Assistant Attorney General A. Tysen Duva.

On Thursday, Korniev pleaded guilty to money laundering, aggravated identity theft, conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit computer fraud, and conspiracy to commit access device theft.

Korniev now faces a minimum penalty of two years in prison and a maximum penalty of 50 years after admitting that the money laundering operation he ran with multiple accomplices was behind over $14.7 million in actual and intended losses to confirmed victims.

He also confirmed that he laundered at least $7 million of the $9.7 million received from cybercriminals.

Five years ago, Europol also announced that law enforcement authorities from 27 countries arrested 1,803 money mules out of 18,351 identified as part of an international money-laundering crackdown operation codenamed EMMA (European Money Mule Action).

Money mules play a vital role in online fraud and often sign up out of desperation, or fraudsters force them into this role by threatening them.

"The organized crime groups do this (recruit mules) by preying on groups such as students, immigrants, and those in economic distress, offering easy money through legitimate-looking job adverts and social media posts," Europol warned at the time.

"Ignorance is not an excuse when it comes to the law and money muling; they are breaking the law by laundering the illicit proceeds of crime."

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