Jan.27, 2010, 7:09 a.m.

A federal grand jury has indicted a Knoxville woman on mail fraud, international money laundering and possession of counterfeit securities.

Carolyn Greer, 48, also known as Carolyn Keene, is accused of writing fake checks to people who sent her money, which she then wired to Nigeria to promote her fraudulent scheme.

She is charged with five counts of mail fraud, three counts of international money laundering and one count of possession of counterfeit securities.

The mail fraud and money laundering counts carry maximum prison sentences of 20 years each and 10 years for the counterfeit securities count.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, this is how the scheme worked:

Greer would place the names of individuals on fictitious checks and then send the checks by commercial interstate carrier to the individuals. The individuals would send her the proceeds of the check by Western Union and MoneyGram after cashing them at a financial institution. Greer would then wire the funds to Nigeria to promote her scheme.

The U.S. Postal Service, Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation Division and Knox County Sheriff’s Office conducted the investigation against Greer.

She is scheduled for a trial March 24 in U.S. District Court.