Owner of Money Transfer Business Charged in a Six-Count Indictment with Wire Fraud

United States Attorney Laura E. Duffy announced that Mohamud Abdi Ahmed was arraigned in federal court today before Magistrate Judge William McCurine, Jr., on a six-count indictment charging Ahmed with wire fraud and criminal forfeiture. The indictment was handed up by a federal grand jury sitting in San Diego on August 5, 2010 and unsealed today. Ahmed was arrested by agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation on August 6, 2010.

According to the indictment, Ahmed, a San Diego resident, owned and operated Shidaal Express, Inc., a money transfer business with several locations in San Diego. Beginning on an unknown date, Ahmed began offering investment services to the public. The indictment alleges that Ahmed solicited investors to give him money by falsely telling these investors that they would receive a return of $500 per month for every $10,000 invested (a 5 percent monthly rate of return, or 60 percent annually), that he was an experienced stock trader, that he had been successfully trading stocks for a number of years, and that investors’ losses would be limited to 20 percent of their principal investment. The indictment alleges that, in reality, Ahmed suffered a net loss from his trading activity from 2004 to 2008, that he reported losses of hundreds of thousands of dollars from stock trading on his tax returns, that investors’ losses were not limited to 20 percent, and that Ahmed substantially dissipated investor funds through trading losses, payments to investors, and other means.

The defendant is next scheduled to be in court on August 12, 2010 at 3:00 p.m., before Magistrate Judge McCurine for a detention hearing and on September 17, 2010 at 11:00 a.m. for a motion hearing before United States District Judge Dana M. Sabraw.

Criminal Case No. 10CR3170-DMS

DEFENDANT
Mohamud Abdi Ahmed

SUMMARY OF CHARGES
Counts 1 through 6: Title 18, United States Code, Section 1343 - Wire fraud Maximum penalties for each count: 20 years’ imprisonment, $250,000 fine, $100 special assessment, three years of supervised release, mandatory restitution to victims

INVESTIGATING AGENCY
Federal Bureau of Investigation

An indictment itself is not evidence that the defendant committed the crimes charged. The defendant is presumed innocent until the government meets its burden in court of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.