Last edited on Friday, October 15, 2021, at 11:00 AM.

Welcome to The Blanch Law Firm’s weekly digest of New New York Criminal Cases. Our goal is to keep the public informed as to recent events in federal courts around the country. 

As always, unless otherwise disclosed, none of the defendants mentioned in these summaries are clients of our firm.

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Friday, October 15, 2021

I. Arrest of Iranian Large-Scale Heroin Trafficker is Announced

On October 12, 2021, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the arrest of Malek Mohammad Balouchzehi, a/k/a “Malek Khan,” 38, a citizen of Iran, for conspiring to import heroin into the United States and distributing heroin for importation into the United States.  Balouchzehi, a citizen of Iran, was taken into custody by Kenyan authorities and expelled to the United States from Kenya on October 9, 2021. Balouchzehi was presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn Oct. 13.

According to the allegations contained in the Complaint charging Balouchzehi, which was unsealed Oct. 12 in Manhattan federal court: Balouchzehi is allegedly an Iran-based drug trafficker who distributes methamphetamine and manufactures and distributes heroin.  

In or about September 2019, Balouchzehi and his associate began communicating and meeting with individuals whom Balouchzehi believed were heroin traffickers interested in large quantities of heroin for importation into the United States, as well as methamphetamine for distribution in Australia. If he is convicted, Balouchzehi faces at least 10 years and up to life in prison.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-arrest-iranian-large-scale-heroin-trafficker

II. Eleven Members of Bank Fraud and Money Laundering Ring Face Charges

On October 13, 2021, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging 11 defendants with conspiracy to commit money laundering, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and aggravated identity theft, in connection with their involvement in laundering millions of dollars in proceeds derived from business email compromises and romance fraud schemes. 

In all, nine defendants were arrested Oct. 13 in the District of New Jersey and the Eastern District of New York and were presented before U.S. Magistrate Judge Sarah Netburn in the Southern District of New York later the same day. One defendant was arrested in the Southern District of Texas and will be presented today in that district’s federal court.  One defendant remains at large.

As alleged in the Indictment unsealed in Manhattan federal court, Adebayo John, Oluwadamilola Akinpelu, Kazeem Raheem, Morakinyo Adedayo, Warris Adenuga, a/k/a “Blue,” Smart Agunblade, Lateef Goloba, Samsondeen Goloba, Olawale Olaniyan, Olawoyin Peter Olarewaju, and Emmanuel Oronsaye-Ajayi participated in one or both of a money laundering conspiracy and bank fraud conspiracy, which received funds stolen from victims.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/us-attorney-announces-charges-against-11-members-money-laundering-and-bank-fraud-ring

III. Man Charged with Selling Multiple Forged Paintings by Contemporary Artist Raymond Pettibon

On October 13, 2021, Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced the indictment of Christian Rosa Weinberger, a/k/a “Christian Rosa,” for his part in a scheme to defraud art buyers through the sale of forged paintings by the artist Raymond Pettibon accompanied by fake certificates of authenticity.  Weinberger fled the United States earlier this year, shortly after news about his involvement in selling a fake Pettibon painting was reported in the press, and he remains at large. This case has been assigned to U.S. District Judge Andrew Carter.

According to the Indictment, from approximately 2017 through 2020, Weinberger and others known and unknown, engaged in a scheme to defraud potential art buyers by selling forged Pettibon paintings.  Pettibon is a prominent contemporary artist based primarily in New York City, who has produced a series of paintings depicting ocean waves with surfers accompanied by handwritten text (the “Wave Series”). 

Weinberger is a contemporary visual artist based primarily in Los Angeles, California and Vienna, Austria. As part of the scheme to defraud, in or about 2018 and 2020, Weinberger sold several artworks, which Weinberger falsely represented to be authentic Pettibon “Wave Series” paintings, to two buyers.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/man-charged-selling-multiple-forged-paintings-contemporary-artist-raymond-pettibon

IV. Cathedral’s Former Musical Director Sentenced to Six Years in Prison for Receiving Child Porn

In federal court in Central Islip on October 13, 2021, the Acting U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, announced that Michael Wustrow, a former musical director at St. Agnes Cathedral on Long Island, was sentenced by United States District Judge Denis R. Hurley to 72 months in prison for receiving child pornography.  As part of his sentence, Wustrow will also be required to register as a sex offender upon his release from prison.  The defendant pleaded guilty to the charge in June 2019.

In June 2016, law enforcement officers acting in an undercover capacity engaged in chats with Wustrow via the Kik Messenger program (hereinafter “Kik”), which is an instant messaging service, during which the defendant discussed child pornography and shared images of child pornography with the officer.  Wustrow utilized the Kik username “pervdad516.”  

In September 2017, Wustrow was found to possess multiple images on his iPhone of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Among these images was a picture of a toddler being abused by an adult male, which Wustrow had received from the Kik messaging app.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-edny/pr/former-musical-director-st-agnes-cathedral-long-island-sentenced-72-months-prison

V. Four Charged In $7.6 Million COVID-19 Fraud Scheme

On October 14, 2021, the U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Damian Williams, announced the unsealing of a complaint charging Jacob Carter, Quadri Salahuddin, Anwar Salahuddin, and Christal Ransom with conspiracy to commit wire fraud, wire fraud, false statements, and aggravated identity theft in connection with a scheme to defraud the U.S. SBA, resulting in a loss to the SBA of more than $7.6 million.  

The defendants were arrested this morning.  Quadri Salahuddin and Anwar Salahuddin were presented later the same day before U.S. Magistrate Judge Andrew E. Krause in White Plains federal court.  Jacob Carter was also presented that afternoon in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas.  Christal Ransom was also presented that same day in the Central District of California.

As alleged in the Complaint, the SBA is a federal agency of the Executive Branch that administers assistance to American small businesses.  This assistance includes making direct loans to applicants through the Economic Injury Disaster Loan (EIDL) Program that was passed as part of the CARES Act in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. 

From March through July 2020, Jacob Carter, Quadri Salahuddin, Anwar Salahuddin, and Christal Ransom used the identities of more than 1,000 other individuals (the “Applicants”) to submit more than 1,000 online applications to the SBA, seeking over $10 million of funds through the SBA’s EIDL Program. Based on the fraudulent EIDL Applications, the SBA made advance payments of more than $7.6 million to the Applicants, who often then kicked back a portion of the advance payments to Jacob Carter, Quadri Salahuddin, Anwar Salahuddin, and Christal Ransom.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-sdny/pr/four-defendants-charged-76-million-covid-19-fraud-scheme