Yet another large-scale international cargo theft ring has been busted, and eight people charge cin connection with thefts amounting to $10 million.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton, and Assistant Director in Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, James C. Barnacle, Jr., recently announced the unsealing of an Indictment charging the defendants with conspiracy to transport and possess stolen property in connection with an international, organized scheme to steal cargo from commercial shippers.
As alleged, the defendants include:
- Vagan Gulian, 37, California
- Zhirayr Gumruyan, 36, California
- Sevak Kocharian, 37, New York
- Araik Setrakian, 36, California
- Vitaly Koshelan, 56, Florida
- Arkadiy Pastin, age not provided, New York
- Jashanpreet Singh, 29, New Jersey
- Edgar Bezhanian, 46, Armenia
Kocharian is also charged with one count of conspiracy to commit extortion.
Officials said the defendants stole millions of dollars’ worth of merchandise which was sold on the black market.
U.S. Attorney Clayton. said,“Organized cargo theft is an attack on the integrity of our nation’s commercial supply chain and our markets more generally. Those who conspire to disrupt commerce and harm consumers will be met with a coordinated law enforcement response.”
“These eight defendants allegedly were members of an international network to steal merchandise and resell these stolen goods at the direct expense of sellers, shippers, and buyers,” said FBI Assistant Director in Charge Barnacle. “The FBI’s Eurasian Organized Crime Task Force works to dismantle illegal operations designed to generate illicit profits both domestically and internationally.”
As alleged in the Indictment and documents submitted to Court outlined how the cargo thieves operated. It said:
Between in or around March of 2023 and the present, the defendants, together with others known and unknown, carried out a large-scale, organized scheme to steal cargo from commercial shippers. In total, the Cargo Theft Enterprise stole goods worth at least approximately $10 million. This cargo theft enterprise operated throughout the United States and targeted high-value merchandise including electronics, liquor, meat, fish, eggs, clothing, skincare products, and cryptocurrency mining machines, among numerous other items.
The defendants and others perpetrated their scheme by diverting, possessing, transporting, and selling numerous loads of stolen merchandise. They relied on the coordinated efforts of at least one “dispatcher” located abroad and facilitators, drivers, and workers located in the United States.
In a typical theft, at least one member of the enterprise fraudulently impersonated a legitimate shipping carrier, or other shipping supply chain personnel and companies, to obtain a contract to transport goods from a shipping company to a customer. Other members of the ring then picked up the load or otherwise diverted the truck containing the load away from its intended destination, including by altering the delivery address and other information on shipping paperwork, and by removing geolocation tracking devices affixed to shipped cargo to track its location and ensure it reaches its proper destination.
Once the truck reached the ring’s intended destination, defendants offloaded and sold the stolen merchandise—including to co-conspirators who knowingly purchased and resold stolen merchandise on the secondary market — for an illicit profit.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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