Alex Altoh, a 64-year-old resident of Roseville, California, has been sentenced to three years and ten months in prison for his involvement in a money laundering conspiracy. The announcement was made by Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith. In addition to the prison sentence, Altoh has been ordered to pay restitution amounting to $1,478,068.99.
Court documents reveal that between January 2021 and November 2021, Altoh conspired with Oumar Sidibe, 31, to launder proceeds from two business email compromise schemes. These schemes involved deceiving corporate victims into making payments to bank accounts controlled by Altoh and others instead of the intended recipients. Subsequently, Altoh and his associates withdrew significant portions of these funds through check deposits, effectively transferring the money while concealing its illegal origins.
One specific incident occurred on October 26, 2021. An employee from one of the victim companies was misled into wiring approximately $3.5 million into Altoh's Wells Fargo account. Within less than two hours on the same day, Altoh executed multiple transactions across different Sacramento bank branches using five checks. Among these transactions was a check for $248,000 written by Altoh himself and deposited into his Chase bank account. That day alone saw Altoh successfully withdrawing around $1.1 million from his Wells Fargo account—funds that remain unrecovered.
Law enforcement agencies traced nearly $3.9 million in laundered fraud proceeds back to both Altoh and Sidibe. However, Sidibe remains at large; he is presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation conducted this investigation with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Denise N. Yasinow and Matthew Thuesen prosecuting the case.