Five more people have been indicted in connection with a multi-million dollar fraud scheme involving the state of West Virginia.
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District unsealed the indictment Tuesday.
In it, 33-year old Michael Ochenge, 36-year old Robert Otiso and 35-year old Paramena Shikanda, all of Minnesota, are charged with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, three counts of mail fraud, three counts of wire fraud and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
According to the indictment, the trio pretended to be vendors that do legitimate business with the state. They opened up dummy bank accounts and tricked the state Auditor's Office into transferring money into those accounts.
They're accused of bilking many states, including West Virginia, out of $3.3 million total before the scheme was found out earlier this year.
Two others, 20-year old Collins Masese and 30-year old Albert Gunga, also of Minnesota, are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering by wiring $770,000 of the cash into an account in Kenya.
Angella Chegge-Kraszeski, who was previously charged for her role in the money laundering conspiracy has been ordered detained pending further proceedings.