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Federal agents tied the quintet to $673 million in dirty money laundered through illicit operations over the past four years, US Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
In exchange, Youssef Janfar, aka “Joe Rodeo,” age 57, of Great Neck, and Edison, New Jersey residents Raj Vaidya, age 26; Rakesh Vaidya, age 51; Shrey Vaidya, age 23; and Neel Patel, 26, collected sizable fees, he said.
Janfar purportedly ran Rodeo of NY, which did business as “Sarah Jewels,” among other alleged fronts.
The three Vaidyas and Patel operated a number of purported diamond, gold, and jewelry companies in the Diamond District – among them, Arya Diamond Jewellery USA Inc., which did business as “Karats & Carats,” Sellinger said.
Other operations were identified in court papers as Diamspark LGD LLC, Royal Diamonds LLC, Raj Gold and Diamond LLC, Royal Arya Jewellery Inc, and Raj Gold and Diamond Inc.
Those charged in the case used the operations as fronts to conduct hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal financial transactions for customers – including converting cash to checks or wire transfers – in exchange for substantial fees, Sellinger said, noting that none of their companies were registered as money transmitting businesses with New York, New Jersey, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.
Sellinger didn’t characterize their customers, although he did note that the DEA and Homeland Security Investigations teamed up with the IRS to make the case.
A US District Court judge in Newark released all five defendants on unsecured bonds pending trial on charges of operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money-transmitting business, he said.
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