April 11, 2011, 5:01 PM ET

http://blogs.wsj.com/corruption-currents/2011/04/11/bulgarian-national-pleades-guilty-to-role-in-transnational-money-laundering-scheme/

A Bulgarian national pleaded guilty Monday in a Washington, D.C., federal court for his role in laundering money for an international group based in Eastern Europe.

Georgi Vasilev Pletnyov pleaded guilty to one count each of money laundering conspiracy and wire fraud conspiracy after being extradited from Poland in May 2010. He faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 22.

In addition to Pletnyov, Roman Teodor, a Romanian co-defendant in the case, appeared before the same judge and was arraigned on the same charges. He was ordered detained, according to the statement.

According to court documents, the two of them participated in a scheme that operated from July 2005 to November 2006, and involved the posting of fraudulent ads on eBay and other websites offering expensive vehicles and boats that the conspirators didn’t possess. The victims wired money through an entity that appeared to be affiliated with eBay, but wasn’t, and instead used it as a ruse to send the funds to an escrow account pending delivery and inspection.

Rather, the money was wired directly to bank accounts in Hungary, Slovakia, Czech Republic and Poland controlled by the conspirators. The conspiracy netted more than $1.4 million from U.S. victims, prosecutors say.

Pletnyov and Teodor were indicted on Jan. 9, 2008, in the case along with four co-defendants, three of which have been sentenced. The fourth is still on the loose.