Newsroom

The fraudulent websites allegedly offer a number of drugs for sale for the experimental and unapproved treatment or prevention of COVID-19. Instead, the domains were allegedly used to collect the personal information of individuals visiting the sites in order to use their information for nefarious purposes, including fraud, phishing attacks and/or deployment of malware.

Mustafa Qadiri, 38, of Irvine, was named in a federal grand jury indictment returned Wednesday charging him with four counts of bank fraud, four counts of wire fraud, one count of aggravated identity theft, and six counts of money laundering.

According to the affidavit filed in support of the seizure, the HSI Intellectual Property Rights Center (“IPRC”) and the HSI Cyber Crimes Center (“C3”) discovered an apparent fraudulent website, named “freevaccinecovax.org.” A domain analysis conducted by HSI indicated the domain name was created on April 27, 2021, using an IP address located in Strasbourg. The registrant country was listed as Russia.

Ahmad Kanan, 49, Madison, Wisconsin was sentenced 42 months in federal prison and was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of $147,060. Kanan committed the CARES Act Fraud while under indictment and awaiting trial in the access device fraud case. He pleaded guilty in both cases on October 2, 2020.

ICE HSI marks the one-year anniversary of the announcement of Operation Stolen Promise, the ongoing operation protecting the United States from COVID-19 related crime.

According to the affidavits filed in support of these seizures, these investigations began in March 2021. Homeland Security Investigations and the National Intellectual Property Rights Center received notification of two fraudulent websites, “genobioscience.com” and “healthbridgescience.com.” The third site, “global-pandemic-vaccines.com,” was discovered by Homeland Security Investigations’ Cyber Crimes Center (C3) during ongoing investigations for malicious websites. The cases were referred to HSI Baltimore for investigation.

The IPR Center, DoJ and the leading manufactures of the COVID-19 vaccine, are investigating reports of these fraudulent COVID-19 vaccine surveys enticing consumers to provide personal information with the promise of a prize or cash at the conclusion of the survey.

ICE today announced an extension of the flexibilities in rules related to Form I-9 compliance that was initially granted last year.  Due to the continued precautions related to COVID-19, the DHS will extend this policy until May 31, 2021.

According to court documents, Hassan Kanyike, 29, of Santa Clarita, admitted that he submitted six fraudulent PPP loan applications and two fraudulent EIDL applications.

James Theodore Polzin, 47, of Mesa, was charged by criminal complaint, unsealed Wednesday, after he was ordered detained at a hearing in U.S. District Court, District of Arizona. He is charged with three counts of fraud in connection with major disaster or emergency benefits and three counts of wire fraud.

With criminal groups producing, distributing and selling fake vaccines, the risks to the public are clear: these can include buying a product which not only does not protect against COVID-19, but poses a serious health hazard if ingested or injected. Such products are not tested, regulated or safety-checked. Legitimate vaccines are not for sale. They are strictly administered and distributed by national healthcare regulators.

More than 460,000 counterfeit 3M N95 surgical masks destined to be used by first responders in the Puget Sound region were seized Wednesday by HSI's BEST, U.S. CBP and the FBI.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) federal agents have seized approximately 10 million counterfeit 3M N95 respirator masks in recent weeks, the result of ongoing collaboration between the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) and manufacturer 3M to prevent counterfeit masks from reaching hospital workers and first responders.

The criminal complaint was filed on February 9, 2021 and was unsealed today upon the defendants’ arrests. Charged in the criminal complaint are: Olakitan Oluwalade (“Olaki”), age 22, of Windsor Mill, Maryland; Olaki’s cousin, Odunayo Baba Oluwalade (“Baba”), age 25, of Windsor Mill; and Kelly Lamont Williams, age 22, of Owings Mills, Maryland.

ICE today announced an extension of the flexibilities in rules related to Form I-9 compliance that was granted earlier this year. Due to the continued precautions related to COVID-19, DHS will extend this policy until March 31, 2021.

ICE today announced an extension of the flexibilities in rules related to Form I-9 compliance that was granted earlier this year. Due to the continued precautions related to COVID-19, DHS will extend this policy until Jan. 31, 2021.

"This operation illustrates the ongoing efforts of the National Intellectual Property Rights Coordination Center, private industry and international law enforcement agencies in keeping our communities safe and free from corruption."

Fraudulent schemes may include the sale of counterfeit COVID-19 vaccines and Personal Protective Equipment (PPE), and so-called preventive medical treatments. ICE HSI El Paso seeks to identify people who may be victims of COVID-19 related fraud.

On Dec. 3, CBP officers at the Ysleta Cargo Facility initially intercepted the shipment of 100,080 3M N95 surgical masks with an MSRP of $600,480. The masks were in-transit at an El Paso bonded warehouse destined to a hospital on the East Coast.

Despite widespread illness and death caused by COVID-19, many individuals and criminal networks are continuing to exploit the pandemic for illegal financial gains, using fraudulent schemes to source, produce, export or sell fake vaccines and related products, according to investigators.

Amir Aqeel, 52, and Pardeep Basra, 51, both of Houston; Rifat Bajwa, 51, Richmond, Texas; Mayer Misak, 40, Cypress, Texas; Mauricio Navia, 41, Katy, Texas; and Richard Reuth, 57, Spring, Texas, made their initial appearances Nov. 17 in the Southern District of Texas. They are all charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and wire fraud. The indictment also charges Aqeel with three counts of money laundering.

ICE today announced an extension of the flexibilities in rules related to Form I-9 compliance that was granted earlier this year. Due to the continued precautions related to COVID-19, DHS will extend this policy until Dec. 31, 2020.

Austin Hsu, 46, of Issaquah, Washington, was charged by criminal complaint, unsealed today after his initial appearance, in the Western District of Washington with one count of wire fraud. He made his initial appearance before U.S. Magistrate Judge Brian A. Tsuchida.