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Mid-Atlantic Crime Ring Arrests For Armed VA Jewelry Robberies, Carjackings
An indictment of 16 members of a violent mid-Atlantic crime ring has been unsealed and the federal agencies are naming names.
Of the 16, eight of the alleged crime ring members were arrested in the morning on Wednesday, Aug. 30, 2023, police in Fairfax County, Virginia announced later that day.
They were all arrested in connection to a violent crime spree that took place between Jan. 7, 2022, through Jan. 27, 2023.
The crime ring members were all from Maryland and the District of Columbia. They met with their accused leader – Trevor Wright, also known as “Taliban Glizzy” …
Mastermind Of Historic $175M Psychic Mail Scam Convicted, Feds Cite More Than 1M Victims
The mastermind of a mass-mailing scam that stole $175 million from more than a million victims, most of them elderly or ailing, was convicted by a federal jury in New York City.
Patrice Runner, a 57-year-old Canadian and French citizen, directed a ruthless psychic mail scheme for over two decades, beginning in 1994, the jurors found.
It was one of the largest -- if not the largest -- scam of its kind ever, the U.S. Department of Justice said on Friday, June 16, in announcing the verdict reached a day earlier on Long Island.
Runner sent mailings to millions of Americans that claimed t…
Love At First Site: Ex-NJ Couple, Nigerian Wingman Charged In $4.5M Cyberfootsies Scam
A former New Jersey couple and a Nigerian national scammed more than 100 lonely hearts out of $4.5 million in an elaborate online romance scheme, federal authorities charged.
Martins Inalegwu, 34, of Philadelphia and Steincy Mathieu, 26, of Brooklyn cooked up the plot with Moses Chukwuebuka Alexander and several of his Nigerian brethren, an indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges.
Together, they trolled online dating and social media sites for willing marks, whom they “wooed with words of love” on the phone and in emails, U.S. Attorney for New Jersey Philip R. Sellinger said.
T…
CEO Admits To Laundering $3.5M In Pot Profits From DC Delivery Service
A weed dealer in Washington, DC has admitted to laundering millions of dollars he generated through the illegal sale of marijuana and THC products, according to federal officials.
Connor Pennington, 39, pleaded guilty this week to conspiracy to commit money laundering while he was the CEO of a marijuana delivery service in the region.
Authorities say that Pennington was the CEO of JointVentures LLC, which operated under the name “Joint Delivery,” a delivery service of pot products, including THC vape cartridges, wax, and edibles, though it was never licensed as a dispensary in DC or any oth…
Four Busted Selling MDMA, Laundering Cash In Virginia, Along East Coast: Feds
Four men were arrested and charged with selling MDMA and laundering their earnings through Massachusetts and Virginia.
Federal agents charged the following people:
Sathtra Em, 35, of Lowell
Kenneth Owen, a/k/a “Apple,” a/k/a “Carlos,” 22, of Charlotte Court House, Va.
Michael Mao, a/k/a “Whitebodian,” a/k/a “Spook,” a/k/a “Leno,” 36, of the Buckingham Correctional Center in Dillwyn, Va.
They are each charged with money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to distribute and to possess with intent to distribute MDMA and Buprenorphine, the US Attorney for Massachusetts s…
Four In Virginia Accused Of Forcing Undocumented Immigrants Into Labor At Laundry Facility
Four people in Virginia are facing charges for alleged labor trafficking, forced labor, and immigration offenses in connection to a laundry facility they operated, federal authorities announced.
A 33-count indictment has been unsealed charging four in the region for defrauding and committing offenses against the US, including human trafficking from Central America, money laundering, benefiting from forced labor, and harboring undocumented immigrants, according to the Department of Justice.
Those charged with engaging in a conspiracy to harbor, transport, and benefit from the work of non-cit…
DC Man Sentenced For Scheming To Steal $31M In Covid-19 Funds
A 31-year-old D.C. man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for trying to steal $31 million from the government’s COVID relief programs, officials said.
Elias Eldabbagh used his company, Alias Systems, LLC, to apply for 25 phony Paycheck Protection Program loans between July 2020 and May 2021, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported.
Eldabbagh used an alias to hide his identity and steal over two million dollars, which he spread across 13 separate bank and brokerage accounts, authorities said.
He also stole from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act, which…
Feds Charge MD Man In $246,390 401(k) Theft From NJ Employee
A Maryland man conspired with others to steal $246,390 from a New Jersey worker’s 401(k), federal authorities charged.
Oladapo Sunday Ogunbiyi, 40, of Greenbelt, and others secretly tapped into the fund, added a bank account belonging to someone else and began steering money into it, an indictment returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court alleges.
“Ogunbiyi and others directed that the fraud proceeds be converted into cashier’s checks, which were provided to Ogunbiyi,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.
“He then deposited the cashier’s checks into bank accounts under his control…
