Iowa City men charged with conspiring to steal $5,000 from others’ paychecks

An Iowa City man was arrested over the weekend on charges that he conspired with another man — who already has pleaded guilty to his own theft charges — to steal more than $5,000 from the other man’s co-workers.

Warrants were issued for the arrest of Abraham Barkayoko, 24, and Dangelo Washpun, 23, both of Iowa City, in June 2024. According to criminal complaints, they stole the money from Washpun’s co-workers at Procter & Gamble, where he worked in 2023.

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Between September and December 2023, Washpun gained access to the paycheck system at Procter & Gamble and changed the direct deposit information for several of his co-workers to make deposits into a bank account that had been set up under a false name by Barkayoko. They stole three paychecks, totaling $5,819.09, the complaints state.

Barkayoko paid Washpun out of the account, and transferred some of the money into cryptocurrency in an attempt to make it harder to track, according to the complaints.

Washpun was arrested in August and charged with second-degree fraudulent practice, second-degree theft and conspiracy to commit a nonforcible felony. He pleaded guilty in January to the conspiracy charge and was sentenced to a two-year probation. The other two charges were dismissed.

Barkayoko was arrested Saturday and charged with second-degree theft, money laundering, and conspiracy to commit a nonforcible felony. He had his first appearance in court Monday and was being held in the Johnson County Jail on a $20,000 bail.

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