Police: San Antonio man acted as 'money mule' in Nigerian scam

Police on Tuesday arrested a 42-year-old man who allegedly wired money from U.S. citizens to an unnamed Nigerian group that regularly funnels cash from citizens' bank accounts. Gerald Wiley faces one count of theft of $20,000 to $100,000, a third degree felony punishable by up to ten years in prison, according to Bexar County Magistrate records. Federal charges of wire fraud, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, are also expected, said San Antonio Police spokesman Douglas Greene. less Police on Tuesday arrested a 42-year-old man who allegedly wired money from U.S. citizens to an unnamed Nigerian group that regularly funnels cash from citizens' bank accounts. Gerald Wiley faces one count of ... more Photo: Joshua Fechter/San Antonio Express-News Photo: Joshua Fechter/San Antonio Express-News Image 1 of / 6 Caption Close Police: San Antonio man acted as 'money mule' in Nigerian scam 1 / 6 Back to Gallery

SAN ANTONIO — Police on Tuesday arrested a 42-year-old man who allegedly wired money from U.S. citizens to an unnamed Nigerian group that regularly funnels cash from citizens' bank accounts.

Gerald Wiley faces one count of theft of $20,000 to $100,000, a third degree felony punishable by up to ten years in prison, according to Bexar County Magistrate records.

Federal charges of wire fraud, punishable by up to 20 years in prison, are also expected, said San Antonio Police spokesman Douglas Greene.

San Antonio police, in coordination with the FBI, arrested Wiley at around 10:30 a.m. Tuesday. Police acted on a tip from authorities in Arizona and El Paso that an undisclosed amount of money had been wired from Arizona to Wiley's Western Union account in San Antonio during the summer, Greene said Tuesday.

Police said Wiley allegedly acted as a "money mule" for the group for three to four years, wiring money stolen by other organization members from bank accounts of U.S. citizens to accounts in Nigeria and South Africa.

Those members hack into citizens' email accounts, obtain their bank account information and request wire transfers while posing as account holders, police said.

Greene said the Nigerian organization may have funneled money from accounts in San Antonio and elsewhere in Texas.

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