Month: September 2022

Source: United States Department of Justice News

HOUSTON – A federal jury sitting in Houston has convicted a 61-year-old Dallas man for money laundering, conspiracy to commit and committing wire fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

The jury deliberated for half a day before convicting Clarence Roland III on all charges following a eight-day trial.

In 2009, Roland began working with co-conspirator Arlando Jacobs, 57, Oakland, California, in a deed fraud scheme to cancel and challenge mortgage loans held in the name of Jacobs or others. During this time, Roland frequently used the alias Joshua Stein, while Jacobs used Caleb Wright or Dexter Ponzey.

According to testimony, they solicited and received the help of other co-conspirators to establish over 11 business entities or shell companies and office spaces with mailing addresses in Houston, The Woodlands and Katy to carry out the scheme.

The jury heard that Roland and co-conspirators fraudulently acquired real property by manipulating and filing fraudulent deeds and other documents. Roland sold the properties and received profits from the sales. The original mortgage liens were not paid off and the mortgage holders were ultimately defrauded. Some title insurance companies were forced to pay buyer claims who had acquired the title when purchasing the real property Roland sold to them.

The co-conspirators fabricated a series of documents to falsely create the appearance of transferred ownership of real property to the shell companies. In order to do so, they signed documents claiming to represent one of the many entities in the transactions. The same names were used as signors on many documents and purported to represent different entities. They were also fraudulently notarized by using fake notary stamps.

The defense attempted to convince the jury the law allowed him to file fraudulent documents in the real property records to transfer title of houses on which there were mortgages so he could then sell them free of those mortgages. They did not believe those claims and found Roland guilty as charged.

Jacobs pleaded guilty in advance of trial in an unrelated fraud case in the Northern District of Texas and was sentenced to 51 months in prison and ordered to pay restitution of $7.6 million.

U.S. District Judge Lee H. Rosenthal presided over the trial and set sentencing for Jan. 25, 2023. At that time, Roland faces up to 30 years for conspiracy to commit wire fraud affecting a financial institution and 20 years for wire fraud. They also carry potential fines of up to $1 million. For money laundering, he faces another 10 years as well as a fine of $250,000.

Previously released on bond, Roland was taken into custody following the conviction today where he will remain pending sentencing.

The FBI, Federal Housing Finance Agency – Office of Inspector General (OIG) and Housing and Urban Development – OIG conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys John Braddock and John Wakefield are prosecuting the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

LAREDO, Texas – Two former soldiers stationed at Fort Hood have been ordered to federal prison for conspiring to transport undocumented aliens within the United States, announced U.S. Attorney Jennifer B. Lowery.

Emmanuel Oppongagyare, 22, pleaded guilty Aug. 11, 2021, while Ralph Gregory Saint-Joie, 19, pleaded guilty the following day.

Today, U.S. District Judge Diana Saldaña imposed a 21-month-term of imprisonment for Oppongagyare, while Saint-Joie received 13 months. Both must also serve three years of supervised release following their sentences. At the hearing, the court heard additional testimony from both men. Oppongagyare remarked that, “On June 13, I made one of the worst mistakes of my life,” while Saint-Joie stated he was ashamed of what he did. In handing down the prison terms, Judge Saldaña commented, “you made a horrible mistake and you’re going to get punished for it. You’re going to go to prison,” and that the defendants were “really vested in trying to make this successful.”

Saint-Joie has been identified as an active duty member of the U.S. Army while Oppongagyare is from the Pennsylvania National Guard. At the time of arrest, each noted they were stationed at Fort Hood.

On June 13, 2021, Oppongagyare and Saint-Joie attempted to go through the Border Patrol (BP) Checkpoint in Hebbronville wearing their army-issued uniforms. Upon inspection, authorities discovered two individuals hidden in the trunk who were determined to be in the country illegally. Authorities promptly took them and the soldiers into custody. At the time of arrest, both Oppongagyare and Saint-Joie were wearing their Army-issued uniforms.

At the time of his plea, Oppongagyare admitted a person he met through Saint-Joie recruited him to pick up the aliens from McAllen and drive them to San Antonio. They expected to be paid once they arrived the destination but did not know the exact amount.

The two Mexican nationals hidden in the vehicle admitted to paying Oppongagyare and Saint-Joie a fee in exchange for passage into the United States. They also identified Oppongagyare and Saint-Joie as the driver and the passenger, respectively, of that vehicle.

The investigation determined Isaiah Gore had hired them and instructed them to wear their uniforms to possibly avoid questioning. Authorities also identified Denerio Williams and Ivory Palmer as being involved in human smuggling. Gore, Williams and Palmer were also indicted, pleaded guilty and later sentenced before U.S. District Judge Marina Garcia Marmolejo.

Both Oppongagyare and Saint-Joie were permitted to remain on bond and voluntarily surrender to a U.S. Bureau of Prisons facility to be determined in the near future.

Homeland Security Investigations and Department of the Army – Criminal Investigations Division conducted the investigation with the assistance of BP conducted the investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Bajew and Mark Hicks prosecuted the case.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – A Kansas City, Mo., man was sentenced in federal court today for his role in a nearly $10 million conspiracy to distribute almost 1,000 kilograms of methamphetamine.

Jesus Banuelos, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Greg Kays to 18 years and nine months in federal prison without parole.

On Aug. 23, 2021, Banuelos pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, one count of distributing methamphetamine, and one count of being an unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm.

Banuelos admitted that he was responsible for the distribution of at least 436.19 grams of pure methamphetamine. Banuelos was involved in the sale of approximately half a pound of methamphetamine to a confidential human source on two occasions in April and May 2019. When Banuelos was arrested during a traffic stop on May 8, 2019, Kansas City police officers could smell the odor of marijuana emanating from the driver’s side window of his vehicle and saw marijuana roaches in the ash tray in plain view. Officers searched his vehicle and found a Glock 9mm handgun. Banuelos told officers he used marijuana three or four days a week.

The court also ordered Banuelos to forfeit to the government $23,974, which represents the proceeds of illegal drug trafficking. Banuelos admitted that he sold 436.19 grams of pure methamphetamine at a price of $2,300 per half pound. The court also held Banuelos responsible for trafficking an additional approximately 1.9 kilograms of methamphetamine, for a total of almost 2.4 kilograms (about 5.2 pounds) of methamphetamine. At $2,300 per half pound, this results in a total amount of $23,974.

At the time of this federal offense, Banuelos was on state probation for stealing an Olympic Arms AR-15 from a pawn shop.

Banuelos admitted he was part of the drug-trafficking organization led by Mirza Alihodzic, 36, of Kansas City, Mo., who pleaded guilty on July 18, 2022, and awaits sentencing. Alihodzic acknowledged that he was responsible for the distribution of at least 45 kilograms of methamphetamine during the conspiracy, which lasted from Sept. 1, 2018, to Nov. 5, 2019.

Banuelos is among five defendants who have been sentenced in this case. Additionally, 13 co-defendants have pleaded guilty, and await sentencing, in two separate indictments that resulted from this investigation.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Bradley K. Kavanaugh and Sean T. Foley and Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Bradshaw. It was investigated by the Kansas City, Mo., Police Department, the FBI, the Missouri State Highway Patrol, and the Mid-Missouri Drug Task Force.

Project Safe Neighborhoods

The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, and local law enforcement to specifically identify criminals responsible for significant violent crime in the Western District of Missouri. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program that brings together all levels of law enforcement to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone. Project Safe Neighborhoods is an evidence-based program that identifies the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develops comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, Project Safe Neighborhoods focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

Source: United States Department of Justice News

          LOS ANGELES – A Paramount-based clothing wholesale company has agreed to plead guilty to federal criminal charges for undervaluing imported garments in a scheme to avoid paying almost $6.4 million in customs duties and for doing business with a woman in Mexico who has ties to the Sinaloa drug cartel, the Justice Department announced today.

          Ghacham Inc., which does business under the “Platini” brand name, is charged in a two-count information with conspiracy to pass false and fraudulent papers through a customhouse and conspiracy to engage in any transaction or dealing in properties of a specially designated narcotics trafficker under a statute known as the Foreign Narcotics Kingpin Designation Act.

          Also charged today is Mohamed Daoud Ghacham, 38, of Bell, a Ghacham Inc. executive who is charged with one count of conspiracy to pass false and fraudulent papers through a customhouse. Both defendants also signed plea agreements filed today in United States District Court and are expected to make their initial court appearances on November 18.

          According to court documents, Ghacham Inc. imported clothing from China and submitted fraudulent invoices to United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) that undervalued the shipments, allowing it to avoid paying the full amount of tariffs owed on the imports.

          At Mohamed Ghacham’s direction, the Chinese suppliers prepared two invoices for the clothing ordered by Ghacham Inc. – a true invoice, which reflected the actual price paid for the goods, and a fraudulent “customs invoice,” which reflected an understated price. Ghacham Inc. submitted the customs invoices to CBP and customs brokers to fraudulently reduce the tariffs owed on the imports, while it maintained the true invoices in its accounting records.

          Ghacham Inc. and Mohamed Ghacham admitted that, between July 2011 and February 2021, they undervalued imported garments by more than $32 million and failed to pay customs duties approximately $6,390,792.

          Ghacham Inc. also illegally conducted business with Maria Tiburcia Cazarez Perez in violation of the Kingpin Act, which prohibits people and businesses in the United States from doing business with her. Cazarez Perez was previously designated a “Specially Designated Narcotics Traffickers” under the Kingpin Act for her participation in the financial network of Ismael “El Mayo” Zambada Garcia and Victor Emilio Cazares Salazar, two leaders of the Mexico-based Sinaloa Cartel. Cazares Salazar was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison for drug trafficking activities in federal cases out of San Diego and New York City.

          Upon entering guilty pleas, Ghacham Inc. will face a statutory maximum penalty of a $10.5 million fine and five years’ probation – during which time it will be required to implement an effective anti-money laundering compliance and ethics program with an outside compliance monitor, and Mohamed Ghacham will face up to five years in federal prison.

          Homeland Security Investigations and CBP investigated this matter. The U.S. Department of Commerce Office of Export Enforcement, Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, and IRS Criminal Investigation provided significant assistance.

          Assistant United States Attorneys Alexander B. Schwab of the Major Frauds Section and Diana L. Pauli of the International Narcotics, Money Laundering, and Racketeering Section are prosecuting the case.

          This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF.