Department of Justice

U.S. Attorney’s Office

District of New Jersey

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Thursday, February 17, 2022

New Jersey Woman Admits Operating Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business

NEWARK, N.J. – A New Jersey woman today admitted transmitting the proceeds of a fraudulent scheme in which elderly victims were falsely told that they had won large sums of money in a lottery sweepstakes, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced.

Shanile Lyle, 28, of Orange, New Jersey pleaded guilty by videoconference before U.S. District Judge Julian X. Neals to an information charging her with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

In 2018, Lyle received checks from victims of a lottery scheme in which the victims were told that they had won large sums of money in a lottery sweepstakes and had to pre-pay taxes on their winnings. Lyle then deposited that money into a bank account that she controlled. Lyle kept a fee for herself and then wired the remainder of the funds to other individuals, including individuals overseas.

The charge of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a maximum fine of $250,000. Lyle’s sentencing is scheduled for June 28, 2022.

U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents of the FBI, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge George Crouch Jr. in Newark, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. 

The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Vera Varshavsky of the U.S. Attorney’s Cybercrime Unit in Newark.