News Releases and Statements

Ariel Boiteux, a 31-year-old Argentine national who masterminded an international extortion scheme against hundreds of people seeking romance through witchcraft and magic spells, was sentenced in federal court Monday to the maximum sentence - two years in prison.

According to court documents, Timurbek Khasanov, 38, participated in a scheme that involved at least six other individuals. The scheme was carried out by attaching electronic devices known as “skimmers” to gas pump payment systems – which collected the information captured when unwitting customers swiped their payment cards at the compromised gas pumps – and then encoding the stolen card numbers onto physical payment cards.

Brian Brundage owned Intercon Solutions Inc. and EnviroGreen Processing LLC, which purported to recycle electronic waste on behalf of corporate and governmental clients.

Simon Chu, 63, of Chino Hills, and Charley Loh, 60, of Arcadia, were charged with a multiple-object conspiracy to commit wire fraud, to fail to furnish information under the Consumer Product Safety Act (CPSA), and to defraud the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

Qifeng Li, 41, his wife Xiamin Huang, 38, and brother Qiwei Li, 45, all face a mandatory minimum five years in prison and up to 40 years in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on June 18, 2019.

Sarah M. Wiley, 35, pleaded guilty to two counts before a United States District Judge.

Lancelot De Montsegur, aka Patrice Berthome, 38, was named in a one-count Indictment, returned on Feb. 19, as the as the sole defendant. He faces a maximum total sentence of 30 years in prison, a fine of $1,000,000 or both.

On Feb. 26, a federal grand jury returned a 38-count indictment against U.S. and Philippines-based conspirators for operating a fraudulent scheme to import Native American-style jewelry and sell it to retail stores and individuals across the southwest United States as authentic jewelry made by Native Americans. The conspirators allegedly perpetrated this international fraud and money laundering scheme for several years in violation of federal laws, including the Indian Arts and Crafts Act (IACA).

Gulnara Karimova, 46, a citizen of Uzbekistan, was charged in an indictment filed in the Southern District of New York on March 7 with one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Karimova is a former Uzbek official who allegedly had influence over the Uzbek governmental body that regulated the telecom industry. Bekhzod Akhmedov, 44, a citizen of Uzbekistan and the former Uzbek executive, was charged in the same indictment with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), two counts of violating the FCPA, and one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Karimova’s and Akhmedov’s case is assigned to U.S. District Judge Kimba Wood of the Southern District of New York.

Rafael Enrique Pinto Franceschi (Pinto), 40, of Miami, Florida, and Franz Herman Muller Huber, 68, of Weston, Florida, were charged in a five-count indictment returned in the Southern District of Texas on Feb. 21 and unsealed Feb. 26. Pinto and Muller are each charged with one count of conspiracy to violate the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA), one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, two counts of wire fraud, and one count of conspiracy to launder money.

Thomas Irigoyen and Nicholas Ofei Cofie were charged with conspiring to commit wire and mail fraud in connection with a scheme to defraud actors in New York City and elsewhere. Irigoyen was arrested in California and will be presented today before a U.S. Magistrate Judge of the Central District of California, and Cofie was arrested in New York City and presented in federal court in Manhattan.

A former procurement officer of Venezuela’s state-owned and state-controlled energy company, Petroleos de Venezuela S.A. (PDVSA), pleaded guilty Monday for his role in a scheme to obstruct an investigation relating to bribes paid by the owner of U.S.-based companies to Venezuelan government officials in exchange for securing additional business with PDVSA and payment priority on outstanding invoices.

The indictment charges Ramses Owens, Dirk Brauer, Richard Gaffey, and Harald Joachim Von Der Goltz, with wire fraud, tax fraud, money laundering, and other offenses in connection with their roles in a decades-long criminal scheme perpetrated by Mossack Fonseca & Co. (“Mossack Fonseca”), a Panamanian-based global law firm, and related entities.

Raul Gorrin Belisario, 50, a Venezuelan citizen with a residence in Miami, Florida, was charged in an indictment filed, Aug. 16, 2017, in the Southern District of Florida with one count of conspiracy to violate the FCPA, one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering and nine counts of money laundering. Former Venezuelan National Treasurer Alejandro Andrade Cedeno, 54, a Venezuelan citizen residing in Wellington, Florida, pleaded guilty under seal, Dec. 22, 2017, to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering. Gabriel Arturo Jimenez Aray, 50, a Venezuelan citizen residing in Chicago, Illinois, and former owner of the Banco Peravia bank, pleaded guilty under seal, March 20, 2018, in the Southern District of Florida to one count of conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Quanguan Zheng, 61, a Chinese citizen, entered the United States lawfully, on May 24, 2015, at the Newark International Airport. U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) admitted Zheng to the United States as a nonimmigrant visitor for pleasure (B-2) until Nov. 23, 2015.

Basel Ramadan and Samir Ramadan were arraigned today in Kings County Supreme Court before Judge Danny Chun; bail for Samir Ramadan was set at $2 million cash or $500,000 bond. Fahd Muthana was arraigned on October 11, 2018 in Kings County Supreme Court before Judge Chun. All three defendants’ cases were adjourned to December 19, 2018.

Sira Abassi, Kenlee Galvez, David Bradford, Jeremias Munoz, and Luis Monsanto-Germosen pleaded guilty to participating in a conspiracy to commit Hobbs Act robbery during August and September of 2017.  The robbery crew committed at least 11 armed robberies in New York City, including stabbing a victim in the torso during a home invasion robbery.