Federal authorities have secured a court judgment forfeiting roughly $375,000 in proceeds from a business email compromise scam that hit an Iowa company in 2022.
The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Iowa issued the order Tuesday after tracing the funds to a Wells Fargo account in the names of Manuel and Ibrahim Hazim, says the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Iowa.
In the scheme, the scammer allegedly posed as vendors of an Iowa company and instructed an employee to send payments to a bank account controlled by the fraudster.
Believing the requests were legitimate invoice payments, the company transferred more than $800,000 to the account in mid-2022. The scammer subsequently moved the money through additional bank accounts in an effort to make the proceeds harder to trace. Authorities ultimately seized $372,583.77 in alleged fraud proceeds from a Wells Fargo account belonging to Manuel and Ibrahim Hazim.
Checks deposited into the account referenced a firm named “Mack Truck” along with “procurement” and payment” in the memo line, yet investigators found no legitimate business activity tied to the deposits.
The Hazims asserted innocent ownership and said the funds were from a currency exchange arrangement but did not provide sworn statements as required.
“Investigation showed that the Hazims did not own or sell a Mack Truck or engage in any other legitimate business transaction with the individual who deposited the funds.”
Says US Attorney Leif Olson,
“Criminals continue to target Americans with email compromise scams. Protect yourself by examining the addresses of incoming emails for differences from previous emails. Follow up in person or by phone to make sure requests are legitimate, especially when someone asks you to change where to send payment. If you or your company are targeted by one of these scams, report it to your bank, to law enforcement, and to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center. We will use every available tool to track down scammers and recover the money they stole.”
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