Financial Crimes

ICE Homeland Security Investigations joined U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi to announce 12 individuals charged in an international conspiracy involving alien smuggling, asylum fraud and money laundering schemes that brought thousands of illegal aliens into the United States for profit.

Following an ICE San Diego investigation, three fugitives transferred from Mexico — Pablo Edwin Huerta Nuno, also known as Flaquito; Juan Carlos Felix Gastelum, also known as El Chavo Felix; and Abdul Karim Conteh — appeared in federal court in the Southern District of California Aug. 13.

ICE Homeland Security Investigations' El Camino Real Financial Crimes Task Force arrested nine illegal aliens while executing a search warrant on an underground nightclub in El Monte on July 19.

An investigation by ICE’s Homeland Security Investigations New York, in coordination with its law enforcement partners, led a Long Island woman to plead guilty to money laundering conspiracy and conspiracy to defraud the United States by obstructing the Federal Election Commission’s administration of campaign finance laws July 30.

A Nigerian national pleaded guilty recently to operating a transnational inheritance fraud scheme that defrauded elderly and vulnerable consumers across the United States. Multiple federal agencies including U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Consumer Protection Branch and members of the Homeland Security Taskforce are investigating the case.

An investigation by ICE Homeland Security Investigations New York, alongside several partners, has resulted in an indictment charging two men for their alleged roles in operating and promoting OmegaPro, an international investment scheme that defrauded victim investors of over $650 million.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations special agents, in collaboration with federal, state and local law enforcement partners, executed a federal search warrant at Buckeye Fire Equipment Company June 25 as part of an active, ongoing criminal investigation.

Darlington Akporugo, a 47-year-old illegal alien from Nigeria, and his wife Jasmin Sood, a 37-year-old Houston resident, were sentenced June 24 to 188 months and 121 months in prison, respectively, for conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. Akporugo pleaded guilty earlier this year on Feb. 28, while Sood pleaded guilty Dec. 17, 2024.

Mario Demarco, aka Marius Lupu aka David Adamec, 30, pleaded guilty in January to a charge of conspiracy to commit bank fraud. He was sentenced June 3 to 33 months in federal prison followed by two years of supervised release. Additionally, the court ordered Demarco to pay restitution totaling $16,567.06.

Two family members with ties to South Texas have been charged with allegedly conspiring to materially support a Mexican cartel previously designated as a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to commit money laundering and related smuggling charges, following an investigation conducted by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the DEA and the FBI with substantial assistance of IRS CI along with Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Marshals Service and Texas Department of Public Safety.