News Releases and Statements

Jamie Harmon, aka Jamie Harley, 57, of Morgan Hill, was convicted in 2010 of five counts of laundering monetary instruments following a three-week trial.

Jordan Georgievski, 41, is scheduled to appear before U.S. Magistrate Judge George Foley Jr. at 3 p.m. He faces two criminal counts of racketeering – participating in a Racketeer Influenced Organization (RICO) and conspiring to engage in a RICO.

According to the investigation, Nathan Isen, of Villanova, Pennsylvania, allegedly sold 12 pieces of art work in exchange for $20,000 in cash for the purpose of laundering cash he believed to be drug proceeds.

Mark Marmilev, 35, of Brooklyn, was principally responsible for designing and maintaining the technological infrastructure for Liberty Reserve, a company that operated one of the world’s most widely used digital currency services.

Jose Luis Rodriguez, 52, owner of ERENE Inc., named in a 61-count federal grand jury indictment unsealed Thursday in El Paso, is charged with multiple money laundering conspiracy charges. Also named and charged are Jorge Penuelas, 40, ERENE assistant manager, and Manuel Rodriguez, 53, ERENE employee.

Thomas Romeo, 51, of Sacramento, is accused of conspiracy to defraud the United States, four counts of wire fraud, 11 counts of entry of falsely classified goods, and 11 counts of entry of goods by means of a false statement.

Edwin Mejia, 31 of Yonkers, New York participated in a scheme to cash more than $400,000 in fraudulently obtained federal tax refund checks issued in other people’s names.

A federal jury found, Mahabubuz Zaman, 42, of Queens, New York, guilty of participating in an elaborate bank fraud scheme which yielded millions of dollars in ill-gotten gains.

Cameron Harrison, aka “Kilobit,” 28, of Augusta, Georgia, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Andrew P. Gordon.

Yao Vignon Kpade, 32, of Overland Park, Kansas, pleaded guilty to one count of electronic access device fraud. In his plea, he admitted that while he was working at a Taco Bell in Belton, Missouri, he used the skimmer to obtain information from customers’ credit cards.

Operation Pac Rim, a three-year investigation, began in September 2009. HSI, in collaboration with international partners, seized the equivalent of more than $170 million dollars in U.S. currency and more than $800 million dollars in property worldwide.

FBI and HSI special agents arrested Alpeshkumar Patel, 30, and Vijaykumar Patel, 39, of Philadelphia at Vijaykumar Patel's home Tuesday on felony conspiracy to commit wire fraud charges.

According to the court documents, the 22 defendants participated in a conspiracy to steal more than $400,000 by forging money orders from the U.S. Postal Service before cashing them at various banks.

Vinh Xuan Ngo, aka Houng Van Tran, 36, and Norinh Inthonepradith, aka Chau Ngo, 38, are each charged in a 15-count federal indictment with bank fraud, conspiracy, aggravated identity theft and access-device fraud.

Defendants Fong, Chun, Mu, Lee, Hartig, Chuong, and Jaemratanasophin were arrested Thursday and made their initial appearances in federal magistrate court in San Francisco. Jaemratanasophin was detained. The other defendants were released on bonds ranging from $100,000 to $500,000.

Luis Anibal Salazar Garcia, 51, received 92 months while 10 co-defendants were sentenced last month to sentences ranging from 28 to 64 months imprisonment.

Kelly Lorraine Watts, 46, from Renton, Washington, was sentenced after pleading guilty May 20. Watts was sentenced 18 months in prison three years of supervised release. She was also ordered to pay $30,360 in restitution.

Gean Fabio DaSilva, 33, pleaded guilty after being indicted in December 2013 for his role in a sophisticated bank fraud scheme that involved the use of dozens of counterfeit identities to fraudulently open bank accounts.

The investigation leading to the settlement was conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigation's (HSI) Foreign Corruption Investigations Group and the HSI Asset Identification and Removal Group in Miami, with the assistance of HSI Los Angeles and the HSI Attaché offices in Rome, Madrid, London and Paris.

The forum and MOU will assist in developing a deeper understanding of the black and grey markets that criminal networks use to traffic goods into Mexico and throughout Latin America.

Tamara Williams, 36, Kriss Rockson, 45, Jason Chance, 25, Alaia Harrison, 20, and Mickael Knight-Williams, 44, were part of an alleged scheme to use stolen personal identifying information from Saks Fifth Avenue customers to purchase approximately $400,000 in luxury goods from the Midtown flagship store for later resale on the black market.

Daniel Barrera Barrera, aka Loco, 44, was responsible for manufacturing hundreds of tons of cocaine annually in Colombia, trafficking it to various parts of the world, including the United States, and laundering tens of millions of dollars in proceeds from that narcotics trafficking activity.

The division will be a part of the Attorney General's Multicounty Grand Jury Unit, and it will provide Oklahoma with the first comprehensive, statewide focus on combating criminal money laundering activities.

The GTO, which will go into effect Oct. 9, was sought by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California, which is working with HSI and the IRS Criminal Investigation division to fight money laundering schemes designed to allow international drug cartels in Central America and South America to reach drug proceeds generated in the U.S.

Maxim Chukharev, 28, of San Jose, Costa Rica, helped maintain the technological infrastructure for Liberty Reserve, a company that operated one of the world's most widely used digital currency services. Chukharev was arrested in San Jose, Costa Rica, in May 2013.