Attorney General Chris Carr today announced the filing of charges against Bernard C. Kaba on three counts of Theft by Taking. The charges relate to Kaba’s alleged involvement in a Business Email Compromise scam as investigated by the Office of the Attorney General’s Criminal Investigation Section and identified by the Cyber Fraud Task Force.

“Businesses remain a primary target for cybercriminals who seek to commit financial theft, with Business Email Compromise schemes proving to be the costliest in terms of reported losses,” said Carr. “As a key line of defense for Georgia’s business community, addressing the real and evolving threat of online and email scams is a top priority for our office. We take these allegations seriously and look forward to presenting this case in court.”

The Georgia Department of Law’s Prosecution Division filed an accusation in Fulton County on Nov. 15, 2021, following Kaba’s arrest last month. Specifically, the accusation charges the defendant with the following which, if convicted, can carry the respective penalties:

• Three counts of Theft by Taking in an amount over $24,999 – 2-20 years and a fine of up to $100,000 for each offense

In February 2021, the Office of the Attorney General joined with federal, state, and local law enforcement and prosecutors to form the Cyber Fraud Task Force in an effort to combat the criminal movement of cyber fraud proceeds through banks in the Atlanta area.

The accusation is available here , and no further information about the investigation or about Kaba’s alleged crimes other than that stated in the accusation may be released at this time.

*Members of the public should keep in mind that an accusationcontains only allegations against the individual against whom the accusation is filed. A defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty, and it will be the government’s burden at trial to prove the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of the allegations contained in the accusation.