Wake County couple is target of money laundering probe
FUQUAY VARINA, N.C. (WTVD) -- A Wake County couple has been implicated in an identity theft investigation and officers say the two used their businesses, including a church, to launder the money.
Search warrants for the couple's home near Fuquay-Varina and their church in Harnett County detail an international scheme that had been going on since the wife attended a conference in London in 2011.
Fuquay-Varina police said they first learned about the scheme in February when an investigator with a local bank flagged a $32,000 wire transfer after a business in Georgia said the transfer from its account was unauthorized.
According to search warrants, a short time later there was another unauthorized attempt to transfer $62,000 from an account in Maryland.
Both transfers were destined for the bank account of the Full Assurance Fellowship of God.
The married couple that runs the church and several other businesses admitted to attempting those transfers as well as others that totaled more than $70,000 according to the search warrants.
Police seized nothing during their search of the church. However, at the couple's home they seized documents, computers, cell phones, passports, and digital media.
It all started in 2011, according to search warrants, when the wife met a man at a conference in London who concocted a scheme to send them money under the guise of a loan that they would repay in small increments while keeping some of the money for themselves or their church.
ABC11 is not identifying the couple at this point since they have not been charged with a crime.
We were told however that the investigation is still very active and includes at least three local law enforcement agencies and the Secret Service.
