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Former Virginia Man Sentenced for Bank Fraud and Identity Theft Scheme Targeting Young Navy Sailors
On June 6, 2012 the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia announced that Lionel Jason Haynes was sentenced to seven years and three months in prison for bank fraud (18 U.S.C. 1344) and aggravated identity theft (18 U.S.C. 1028A(c)). He was also ordered to pay $181,960 in restitution.
According to court documents and proceedings, Haynes, a former Navy sailor, executed a scheme to defraud Navy Federal Credit Union (NFCU) by victimizing young, impressionable sailors. Posing as a Chief Petty Officer, Navy SEAL or as a representative of the Navy’s Fleet and Family Services Center, Haynes would approach a sailor on Navy Base Norfolk and offer assistance to help him purchase a car.
He would ask for their personal identifying information and bank account information under the pretense of needing it to determine pre-approval for an auto loan. Once he received this information, he accessed their NFCU bank account, requested an auto loan, and changed the mailing address to an address to which he had access. He received the check, wrote down the fraudulent vehicle information, forged their name, and had an associate (the purported seller) cash the check. He victimized 14 different sailors in this manner.
In its sentencing memorandum the government requested 60 months’ imprisonment for bank fraud, plus 24 months for identity related fraud. Although the defense moved for a downward departure, it is apparent that no such departure was granted by the sentencing judge. Mr. Haynes was sentenced to exactly what was requested by the government and prescribed in the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines. Unfortunately for Mr. Haynes his request to have his identity theft conviction run concurrently was denied, probably because the statute specifically prescribes the sentence to run consecutively. As such, instead of serving 5 years and 3 months in prison, he will serve 7 years and three months.
Not all was lost however. According to sentencing documents the judge did grant Mr. Hayne’s request to be placed in a prison near his family in New York and ordered him to continue his education while in prison. Court documents made it clear that Mr. Haynes was in college during the sentencing phase of the case.
This case was investigated by the Navy Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) and prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Eastern District of Virginia.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
Accused Member of Foreign Terrorist Organization Extradited to United States on Hostage Taking Charges
The Department of Justice announced on March 12, 2012 that Alexander Beltran Herrera, a/k/a Jhon Beltrain Herrera, a/k/a Rodrigo Pirinolo, an accused member of the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (“FARC”), has been extradited from Colombia to face hostage taking and terrorism charges in the United States.
The indictment alleges that the FARC is an armed and violent organization in the Republic of Colombia. The indictment further alleges that the FARC is a “highly structured criminal organization” divided into seven geographic “blocks” — the Caribbean block, the Northwestern block, the Middle Magdalena block, the Central block, the Eastern block, the Western block, and the Southern block — which are each further subdivided into a number of Fronts and named Mobile Columns. The indictment specifically alleges that Mr. Herrera was a member of the 27th Front in the FARC’s Southern block and committed various crimes against the United States as a member of FARC.
For example, according to the indictment, in 2004 the 27th Front allegedly held three Americans for nearly two years. The indictment also alleges that Mr. Herrera was one of the FARC “jailers” who used “choke harnesses, chains, padlocks, and wires to bind the necks and wrists” of American hostages. In addition to these alleged acts, Mr. Herrera was charged with the following specific offenses: 18 U.S.C. 1203(a) (Conspiracy to Commit Hostage Taking); 18 U.S.C. 1203(a),(2) (Hostage Taking; Aiding and Abetting and Causing an Act to be Done); 18 U.S.C. 924(c),(2) (Using and Carrying a Firearm During a Crime of Violence; Aiding and Abetting and Causing an Act to be Done); 18 U.S.C. 2339A (Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Terrorists); 18 U.S.C. 2339B (Conspiracy to Provide Material Support or Resources to a Designated Foreign Terrorist Organization).
When an individual located in a foreign country has been indicted by a federal grand jury the United States will attempt to compel the government of that country to turn that individual over into the custody of the United States. This request will usually be pursuant to an extradition treaty between the United States and that foreign country. The extradition request is formally made with the foreign government’s embassy in the United States. Additionally, this formal request is made by the U.S. Department of State, not Justice. The U.S. will likely accompany this formal request with a copy of the indictment, arrest warrant, relevant statutes, a photograph of the accused, and the affidavit of an investigating officer on the case.
When this request is made, the terms of the treaty dictate whether the foreign government will agree to turn over the individual into the custody of the United States. Accordingly, most extradition treaties must satisfy a legal concept known as dual criminality. Dual criminality means that the offenses being charged by the requesting country must also be considered punishable offenses in the other country. This very requirement exists in Article 2(1)(a) of the extradition treaty between the United States and Colombia.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
Home Builder Indicted in $14.7 Million Construction Investment Scheme
On March 1, 2012 a federal grand jury indicted Patrick J. Belzner, a/k/a “Patrick McCloskey,” of Glen Arm, Maryland fo conspiring to commit wire fraud arising from an investment fraud scheme.
The indictment alleges that in order to gain their victims’ confidence, Belzner and his co-conspirators caused victim investors and borrowers to enter into escrow agreements which stated that no person other than the victims had the ability to remove the escrowed funds without the victims’ permission. Belzner told the victims that a co-conspirator had to be the attorney assigned as the escrow agent.
The indictment alleges that Belzner and his co-conspirator fraudulently withdrew approximately $14,730,780 from the escrow accounts and used these stolen funds to satisfy their business and personal debts. To conceal their scheme, Belzner and his co-conspirators allegedly: emailed fabricated bank statements to victims that misrepresented the escrow account balance and the date by when the investors’ money would be returned. Belzner and his co-conspirators also used funds fraudulently obtained from some victim investors to repay money owed to previous victim investors, or to other individuals to whom the conspirators owed debts.
Belzner faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison and fine of $250,000 or twice the value of the gain or loss. The indictment further seeks forfeiture of at least $14,730,780, the amount of money stolen from victim investors.
Belzner’s alleged co-conspirators are not named in the indictment. According to the indictment Bezner’s co-conspirators included a home builder from Baltimore, Maryland, an attorney licensed to practice in Maryland, a senior underwriter from Newport Beach, California, and an attorney licensed to practice in California. The government may still be building its case against the other co-conspirators, offering the defendant the opportunity to cooperate with investigators. However, since the indictment was recently unsealed, there is a good chance that the other co-conspirators were actually involved in the investigation into Belzner.
Co-conspirators make for interesting government witnesses. These “insider” witnesses provide the government with invaluable insight into the inner workings of the alleged crime. However, due to a co-conspirator’s own precarious position as a criminally liable person, defense counsel is afforded the opportunity to seriously call into question the reliability, veracity, and character of such witnesses.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
Humboldt County Marijuana Grower Indicted for Murder by Feds
It was announced on March 1, 2012 that a federal grand jury in San Francisco indicted Mikal Xylon Wilde, of Humboldt County, with murder during a narcotics offense, conspiracy to manufacture and distribute 1000 or more marijuana plants, use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking offense and crime of violence, use of a firearm causing death in the form of a murder, and possession of ammunition by a convicted felon.
These federal offenses are being charged separately and in addition to California’s own charges against Wilde. As such, the defendant is currently in custody in Humbodlt County on state murder charges arising from the incident. An unfortunate, yet common, trend in drug related offenses are concurrent state and federal investigations and prosecutions for the exact same conduct. In essence, the defendant can lawfully be tried twice for the same conduct. The doctrine of double jeopardy does not apply in instances of concurrent federal and state prosecutions because both the federal government and state government are distinct sovereigns. This concept, known as dual sovereignty, permits any number of sovereign entities to separately prosecute a person if the person’s action violates the laws of each sovereign entity.
Wilde pleaded not guilty to state charges back in September 2011 and his case is ongoing. However, in line with the concept of dual sovereignty, Wilde was indicted for federal offenses in March 2012. Murder is generally considered an offense best handled by state governments. But since Wilde’s offense involves large scale narcotics trafficking, the federal government probably thought it would be prudent to pursue the case as well. The defendant will make his initial appearance in federal court in Eureka before U.S. Magistrate Judge Nandor J. Vadas.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
Former CIA Officer John Kiriakou Charged for Disclosing Classified Information to Journalists, False Statements, and Revealing the Identity of a Covert Officer
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia recently announced that it has charged John Kiriakou with repeatedly disclosing classified information to journalists, including the name of a covert CIA officer and information revealing the role of another CIA employee in classified activities. Specifically, Kiriakou has been charged with one count of violating the Intelligence Identities Protection Act and two counts of violating the Espionage Act. Kiriakou was also charged with one count of making false statements for allegedly lying to the Publications Review Board of the CIA in an unsuccessful attempt to trick the CIA into allowing him to include classified information in a book he was seeking to publish.
Upon conviction, the count charging illegal disclosure of a covert officer’s identity to a person not authorized to receive classified information carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison, which must be imposed consecutively to any other prison term; the two counts charging violations of the Espionage Act each carry a maximum term of 10 years in prison; and making false statements carries a maximum prison term of five years. Each count carries a maximum fine of $250,000.
Being that the allegations against Kiriakou are in the form of a criminal complaint, the government’s next step will be to initiate and conduct a grand jury investigation, if they have not already done so. Since grand jury investigations are secret, the government could have already begun such an investigation and interviewed various witnesses involved in the offenses above. The grand jury investigation will determine whether there is probable cause to indict Kiriakou before arraigning him and is generally required in the federal criminal justice system, unless waived by the defendant. If Kiriakou waives his right to a grand jury investigation the prosecution can alternatively proceed by filing an information.
There are several reasons why a defendant would agree to waive his right to a federal grand jury investigation and its determination of probable cause. Since grand jury investigation are ex parte proceedings (held only by the prosecution) they tend to conclude with a finding of probable cause. Additionally, if the defendant has previously spoken to prosecutors he may have already negotiated a favorable plea agreement that would only be available to him at these early stages of the prosecution. The defendant may also want to reduce the risk of uncovering additional offenses that would necessarily be uncovered if a grand jury investigation was commenced. Whatever the reason, the steps moving forward are highly personal and will be ultimately determined by the defendant after close consultation with and advice from defense counsel.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York Announces Extradition of Four Israeli Defendants Charged in Multi-Million Dollar Fraud Scheme
The US Attorney for the Southern District of New York recently announced that four defendants have been extradited from Israel on charges relating to their participation in multiple lottery telemarketing fraud schemes. Many of those charged in two indictments in 2008 and 2009 have already been arrested and have either plead guilty to conspiracy and/or fraud charges or been found guilty by bench trial.
The four recently extradited include Avi Ayache, Yaron Bar, and Ian Kaye, all of whom were arrested in Israel back in July of 2009 awaiting extradition to the United States. The fourth man, Shai Kadosh, who was indicted back in September 2008 was a fugitive until he was arrested in Israel in December of 2011.
The four men and their co-conspirators allegedly operated phony “lottery prize” schemes out of numerous boiler rooms in Israel. The schemes targeted hundreds of victims, mostly elderly, throughout the United States. To identify potential victims, the defendants purchased from list brokers the names and contact information of U.S. residents who subscribed to sweepstakes lotteries. They then contacted the victims and solicited information about their finances by falsely telling them they had won a substantial cash prize that they would receive as soon as they paid the necessary fees and taxes. In reality, there was no lottery prize. Collectively, the American victims in these lottery fraud schemes lost approximately $25 million.
Ayache, Bar, Kaye, and Kadosh are each charged with one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and mail fraud through telemarketing, which carries a maximum penalty of 30 years in prison. In addition, Ayache, Bar, and Kadosh are each charged with two substantive counts of wire fraud through telemarketing, each of which carry a maximum potential penalty of 30 years in prison. Ayache and Bar are also charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering, which carries a maximum potential penalty of 20 years in prison. The enhanced fraud penalties are a result of the telemarketing scheme employed by the defendants. According to 18 U.S.C. 2326 there is up to a 10 year penalty enhancement when the fraud is carried out by telemarketing and targets at least 10 elderly people over the age of 55.
The government will also seek forfeiture and mandatory restitution of up to $25 million in substitute assets to recover the defendants’ ill-gotten gains.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
Former Investment Fund Manager from Los Angeles Charged with Defrauding Investors
John Farahi, of Bel Air Estates, California, was named in a 41-count indictment returned on December 7, 2011 by a federal grand jury. The former investment fund manager defrauded investors out of millions of dollars by falsely promising investors their money would be invested conservatively to purchase corporate bonds backed by the Troubled Asset Relief Program (TARP) and then collaborating with his corporate counsel to cover-up the fraud.
Farahi, a former Reno, Nevada City Council Member and Farsi-language radio investment advisor, instead used the investment funds for a variety of personal purposes, including to support his family’s lavish lifestyle, to make Ponzi payments to early clients of his investment fund, and to trade in high-risk and speculative future options trading. Farahi was able to attract many of his clients through his daily radio show in which he touted a conservative investment philosophy. Most of his clients were members of the Southern California Iranian-Jewish community.
In the face of huge trading losses at the end of 2008, Farahi allegedly tried to extend the scheme by drawing down extensively on lines of credits at banks while making false statements to those banks about his financial condition. The victim banks included TARP recipients Bank of America and U.S. Bank as well as Sun West Bank.
The indictment charges Farahi with 16 counts of mail fraud, one count of wire fraud, five counts of offering for sale unregistered securities, four counts of loan fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, five counts of alteration of documents, one count of suborning perjury, one count of concealing a material fact, one count of witness tampering. If he is convicted of the 40 counts in which he is charged, Farahi would face a statutory maximum sentence of 717 years in federal prison.
It is alleged that Farahi’s scheme lasted from 2005 until 2010. The Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) had filed a federal complaint alleging violations of federal securities laws against Farahi and other in January 2010. Many of the charges Farahi now faces are derived from his attempts to mislead, conceal, and redirect the SEC’s investigation. Otherwise known as cover-up crimes, targets of federal investigations often get themselves into more trouble early on in an investigation by lying to investigators or acting unethically. Now that the SEC has referred the case to the DOJ for criminal prosecution, Farahi now faces a significant number of charges in addition to his initial fraud scheme.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
Former Portfolio Manager Charged with Fraudulently Overvaluing Hedge Fund Assets
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York announced that hedge fund portfolio manager Michael Balboa was arrested on December 1, 2011 on charges related to his alleged scheme to overvalue by more than $80 million the assets of Millennnium Global Emerging Credit Fund (the “Hedge Fund”), the hedge fund at which he was employed. Balboa, a resident of the United Kingdom, was arrested in New York City and was presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel Gorenstein the same day. Mr. Balboa was also subject to an SEC complaint alleging many of the same facts. The case was referred to Justice for criminal prosecution.
As alleged, Balboa, along with co-conspirators, manipulated the valuation process at his former hedge fund to make it appear financially stronger than it really was and for his own personal gain. U.S. Attorney Preet Bhara stated that those actions of Balboa harmed the fund and deceived its investors.
The Indictment alleges that Balboa served as the portfolio manager for the Hedge Fund from December 2006 to October 2008, when it ceased operation. The Hedge Fund’s strategy was to invest in a portfolio of corporate and soveriegn debt instruments in emerging countries. The Hedge Fund utilized an independent valuation agent (the “IVA”) to determine its “net asset value” (“NAV”), which is the value of the Hedge Fund’s assets, less liabilities and estimated costs of sale/liquidation. The Hedge Fund referenced the role of the IVA in a variety of documents that were sent to its investors and prospective investors, including an offering memorandum, monthly newsletters, and responses to due diligence questionnaires (“DDQs”). In one DDQ, the Hedge Fund noted that “[t]here are no assets valued in house,” and that the IVA “calculates the NAV of [the Hedge Fund] independently of Millennium Global.” The Hedge Fund relied on the IVA’s determinations in advising its investors of the Hedge Fund’s month-end NAV and NAV per share.
From January 2008 through October 2008, Blaboa allegedly instructed two co-conspirators (“CC-1” and “CC-2”) to provide the IVA with substantially inflated prices for one of the Hedge Fund’s securities – payment-adjusted warrants from the Government of Nigeria (the “Nigerian Warrants”). CC-1 and/or CC-2 provided these overvalued prices to the IVA. Although the Nigerian Warrants traded between $145 and $258 from January 2007 to October 2008, CC-1 and/or CC-2 provided the IVA with price valuations or “marks” ranging from $531.25 to $3,500.00, at various times throughout this period. The IVA then used these falsely inflated marks in computing the monthly NAV for the Hedge Fund. This caused the IVA to overstate the NAV by tens of millions of dollars. These overstatements were communicated to investors through, among other things, monthly newsletters that outlined the NAV and NAV per share of the Hedge Fund.
Balboa is charged with one count of conspiracy to commit securities fraud and wire fraud, one count of securities fraud and one count of wire fraud. The conspiracy count carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, and the substantive counts each carry a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
The investigation leading up to the charges Balboa now faces were brought in coordination with President Obama’s Financial Fraud Enforcement Task Force, an interagency task force designed to wage an aggressive, coordinated, and proactive effort to investigate and prosecute financial crimes. Individuals involved in the financial industry should strive to follow protocol at all stages of their dealings to avoid being caught up in an investigation by this formidable body.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
Two Individuals Indicted for Narcotics Trafficking and Conspiring to Provide Support to Hizballah; Extradited to the U.S.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of New York recently announced the extraditions of Siavosh Henareh and Cetin Asku from Romania on charges of conspiring to provide narcotics and, in the case of Aksu, material support to Hizballah through an individual whom they believed to be an associate of Hizballah, but who was in fact, a Drug Enforcement Administration (“DEA”) confidential source. Aksu is further charged with conspiring to acquire, transfer, and possess anti-aircraft missiles.
The indictment alleges that Henareh and Aksu, the defendants, and others known and unknown, carried out a series of over acts for the purpose of brokering a heroin transaction with confidential sources working for the DEA. One of those confidential sources was posing as an associate of Hizballah, which has been designated by the United States Secretary of State as a foreign terrorist organization in 1997. From about December 2010 to about April 2011 Henareh and Aksu were part of a plan with the confidential sources to acquire hundreds of kilograms of high-quality heroin to import into and sell in the United States. Henareh and Aksu were informed by the confidential sources that the profits and proceeds from this proposed sale of heroin would be used to purchase weapons for Hizballah.
The indictment further alleges that Henareh received $23,000 from a confidential source and sent the money via hawala from one confidential source in Bucharest, Romania to another confidential source in Istanbul, Turkey for the purpose of acquiring a sample of the heroin to be used in the anticipated deal to sell the drug in the United States and benefit Hizballah. It is alleged that Aksu further indicated that he had an additional 200 kilograms of heroin available for sale in the anticipated deal.
With respect to Aksu, his alleged involvement in the anticipated deal also included providing material support to Hizballah and acquiring, transfering, and possessing anti-aircraft missiles. These charges stem from alleged conversations between Aksu and confidential sources indicating Aksu’s ability to acquire and sell handguns, automatic assault rifles, and anti-aircraft missiles. These alleged conversations indicated the types, quantities, and prices of various weapons. Aksu also allegedly provided the confidential sources with a list of weapons for sales with prices, including anti-aircraft missiles. Aksu also allegedly indicated that he already had Hizballah as a buyer for these products. Aksu and another uncharged individual allegedly entered into a contract worth $9.5 million with the confidential sources to purchase said weapons for Hizballah.
Henareh and Aksu were extradited to the United States from Romania on November 17, 2011 to face the abovementioned charges made in an indictment that was unsealed on July 26, 2011. The government is also seeking forfeiture of any and all assets and funds, wherever located, related to any of the abovementioned charges if convictions are obtained against the defendants.
It is apparent from this indictment and extraditions that the U.S. has confidential sources around the world who coordinate with various State Department and DEA offices in foreign nations. The U.S. has also fostered law enforcement relationships with nations around the world to coordinate enforcement actions and sting operations meant to ferret out those individuals who are willing to provide support to terrorists and undertake various narcotics trafficking activities.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
Seven Individuals Indicted for Engineering Sophisticated Internet Fraud Scheme That Infected Millions of Computers Worldwide
On November 9, 2011 the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced charges against against six Estonian nationals and one Russian national for engaging in a massive and sophisticated Internet fraud scheme that infected with malware more than four million computers located in over 100 countries. Of the computers infected with malware, at least 500,000 were in the United States, including computers belonging to U.S. government agencies, such as NASA; educational institutions; non-profit organizations; commercial businesses; and individuals. The malware secretly altered the settings on infected computers enabling the defendants to digitally hijack Internet searches and re-route computers to certain websites and advertisements, which entitled the defendants to be paid. The defendants subsequently received fees each time these websites or ads were clicked on or viewed by users. The malware also prevented the installation of anti-virus software and operating system updates on infected computers, leaving those computers and their users unable to detect or stop the defendants’ malware, and exposing them to attacks by other viruses.
Six of the defendants, Vladimir Tsastin, Timur Gerassimenko, Dmitri Jegorov, Valeri Aleksejev, Konstantin Poltev and Anton Ivanov, all Estonian nationals, were arrested and taken into custody November 8, 2011 in Estonia by the Estonian Police and Border Guard Board. The U.S. Attorney’s Office will seek their extradition to the United States. The seventh defendant, Andrey Taame, a Russian national, remains at large.
As alleged in the indictment, from 2007 until October 2011, the defendants controlled and operated various companies that masqueraded as legitimate publisher networks (the “Publisher Networks”) in the Internet advertising industry. The Publisher Networks entered into agreements with ad brokers under which they were paid based on the number of times that Internet users clicked on the links for certain websites or advertisements, or based on the number of times that certain advertisements were displayed on certain websites. Thus, the more traffic to the advertisers’ websites and display ads, the more money the defendants earned under their agreements with the ad brokers. As alleged in the indictment, the defendants fraudulently increased the traffic to the websites and advertisements that would earn them money. The defendants accomplished this by making it appear to advertisers that the Internet traffic came from legitimate clicks and ad displays on the defendants’ Publisher Networks when, in actuality, it had not.
The defendants accomplished their scheme by employing both “click hijacking” and “advertising replacement fraud.” In “click hijacking” schemes the user of an infected computer clicks on a search result link displayed through a search engine query, the Malware causes the computer to be re-routed to a different website. Instead of being brought to the website to which the user asked to go, the user is brought to a website designated by the defendants. In “advertising replacement fraud” schemes the defendants used malware and rogue DNS servers which replaced legitimate advertisements on websites with substituted advertisements that triggered payments to the defendants. It is alleged in the indictment that both schemes earned the defendants at least $14 million in ill-gotten gains.
The defendants are being charged with wire fraud conspiracy, wire fraud, computer intrusion, computer intrusion conspiracy, and computer intrusion by transmitting information. The indictment also alleges that the defendants laundered the proceeds of the scheme through numerous companies.
The author of this blog is Erich Ferrari, an attorney specializing in Federal Criminal Defense matters. If you have any questions please contact him at 202-280-6370 or ferrari@ferrari-legal.com.
