Victim Organizations (many/most are Business Email Compromise)
a) an environmental Trust
b) an urban redevelopment program
c) a Medical Center
d) a transportation company
e) an apartment complex company
f) a K-12 school district in Montana
g) a private liberal arts college
h) the Delaware River & Bay Authority
i) a Colorado real estate agency
j) Larimer County, Colorado
k) an RV dealership
l) a health care center with 17 locations
m) a real estate / property management firm
n) a real estate company in Texas
o) Vigo County, Indiana
The indictment makes clear that the defendants’ Shell Companies DID NOT:
– have physical operations
– have business premises
– engage in legitimate business activities
– earn gross revenues
– incur cost of goods sold
– incur administrative expenses associated with business operations
– report wages for employees to the State of Maryland
– have significant numbers of employees
A little hint for those who screen business accounts. If one runs an Automobile Dealership from a residential neighborhood and has never purchased a car and has no employees, it is unlikely to be a thriving business that you would want to bank!
The Shell companies listed in the indictments include:
Gifted LLC; Blue Skye Realty; Faiz Automobiles LLC; First Realty Management LLC; FB Morgan LLC; Smart Logistics LLC; Parker Transports LLC; Blaxstone Enterprises LLC; Satisfied Health Care LLC; KC All Pro HVAC Service LLC; Colon Enterprise LLC; Lorena Perez Herrerra LLC; YS Estate and Properties; Victor’s Trucking and Pull LLC; Vieta Collection; The Justin Company LLC; [ID-theft victim] Company LLC
That list of companies is not the full extent of the shell corporations operated by the accused. As an example, Faizou Gnora had many businesses:
– First Realty Management LLC, 12825 Locbury Cir, #B, Germantown, MD 20874
– Faiz Express Trucking LLC, 369 W. Side Dr, 102, Gaithersburg, MD 20878
– Gnora Capital LLC, 6800 Wisconsin Ave #1086, Chevy Chase, MD 20815
– Premier Strength Training LLC, 12825 Locbury Cir, Apt B, Germantown, MD 20874
– Faiz Automobiles LLC, 12825 Locbury Cir, Suite B, Germantown, MD 20874
– Faiz Express Trucking LLC, 225 S Whiting St Apt 307, Alexandria, VA 22304-7132
Her “Faiz Express Trucking” company is listed with the Department of Transportation, which gives the Alexandria address for the company, but notes Faizou’s Gathersburg address for the point of contact.
The companies listed in the indictment had the following accounts use for money laundering:
Bank of America – 3 accounts
Capital One Bank – 6 accounts
Citibank – 6 accounts
JPMorgan Chase – 3 accounts
PNC Bank – 7 accounts
M&T Bank Corporation – 2 accounts
Navy Federal Credit Union – 2 accounts
SunTrust/Truist – 6 accounts
Wells Fargo – 5 accounts
Woodforest Bank – 6 accounts
As a further example of how tightly connected these cases are, all of the bank accounts listed in the second indictment are also found in the first indictment. Based on the charges in the two indictments, between 17NOV2020 and 21OCT2022, the crew moved at least $7.2 Million between their shell companies as described below.
The big unanswered question to me is – THEN WHERE DID THE MONEY GO? Based on the seizures, very few of the funds were still in the possession of the laundering crew. So who recruited them? And where did the funds go when they left their control? We MUST keep pulling the string and find out!
I was curious why DCIS was one of the investigating agencies here. The DOJ Press release says that: “As a result of a law enforcement operation on February 7, 2024, 10 defendants were arrested at locations throughout Maryland and three search warrants were executed related to an alleged money laundering conspiracy involving more than $9.5 million in proceeds from fraud schemes. Law enforcement agents from the Homeland Security Investigations Mid-Atlantic El-Dorado Task Force, the Environmental Protection Agency Office of Inspector General, IRS Criminal Investigation, and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service participated in yesterday’s searches and arrests. Additional defendants are currently fugitives.”
The only person among the defendants that I see is military so far is Areal Harris:
