Cyber criminals convicted in Gwinnett County headed to prison

Two convicted cyber criminals were sentenced to prison this week in Gwinnett County for their role in fraud schemes with multiple victims.

Ugochinyere Anazodo, 46, of Gwinnett and Dominique Beaulieu, 45, of Windermere, FL, were convicted late last month for participating in several cyber scams including business email compromise, romance fraud, and inheritance and identity theft.

Among the victims was the Georgia Department of Transportation, which was fraudulently induced to pay a legitimate vendor's invoices to the defendants. In another scheme, a private citizen was conned by a man she believed she could trust, and her money flowed to Anazodo through four separate business bank accounts — all of which had been established using the stolen identities of Georgians.

'We're working each day to put a stop to the cyber criminals who are targeting Georgians and stealing their hard-earned dollars, and our efforts have proven successful,' said state Attorney General Chris Carr, whose White Collar and Cyber Crime Unit prosecuted the case.

'Cyber fraud has become an increasing problem,' added Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. ' With the advancement of technology, criminals are finding more ways to steal hardworking Georgians' assets. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure these defendants are brought to justice.'

After a nine-day jury trial, Anazodo was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted on two counts of racketeering and one count each of money laundering and theft by taking. He also was ordered to pay restitution of nearly $1.2 million.

Beaulieu pleaded guilty of two counts of racketeering and was sentenced to five years in prison.