Scribd Logo
Upload

Welcome to Scribd!

  • 23K views

    Benjamin Abraham Indictment Press Release

    Uploaded by

    stpreps
    A Charlotte jeweler, Benjamin Abraham, was indicted on 18 counts including wire fraud and money laundering charges related to a $3.5 million investment scheme involving jewelry, precious metals, and gemstones. According to the indictment, from 2012-2017 Abraham defrauded at least 7 investors of over $2 million by falsely claiming their money would be used for short-term investments and lying about past profits and the security of the investments. Abraham is also accused of laundering money to conceal the fraud and using accounts not in his name to continue the scheme after banks closed his accounts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Benjamin Abraham Indictment Press Release

    Uploaded by

    stpreps
    23K views2 pages
    A Charlotte jeweler, Benjamin Abraham, was indicted on 18 counts including wire fraud and money laundering charges related to a $3.5 million investment scheme involving jewelry, precious metals, and gemstones. According to the indictment, from 2012-2017 Abraham defrauded at least 7 investors of over $2 million by falsely claiming their money would be used for short-term investments and lying about past profits and the security of the investments. Abraham is also accused of laundering money to conceal the fraud and using accounts not in his name to continue the scheme after banks closed his accounts.

    Original Description:

    Allegations in the indictment of a multi-million dollar fraud scheme detailed in release.

    Copyright

    © © All Rights Reserved

    Available Formats

    PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd

    Did you find this document useful?

    Is this content inappropriate?

    A Charlotte jeweler, Benjamin Abraham, was indicted on 18 counts including wire fraud and money laundering charges related to a $3.5 million investment scheme involving jewelry, precious metals, and gemstones. According to the indictment, from 2012-2017 Abraham defrauded at least 7 investors of over $2 million by falsely claiming their money would be used for short-term investments and lying about past profits and the security of the investments. Abraham is also accused of laundering money to conceal the fraud and using accounts not in his name to continue the scheme after banks closed his accounts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    23K views2 pages

    Benjamin Abraham Indictment Press Release

    Uploaded by

    stpreps
    A Charlotte jeweler, Benjamin Abraham, was indicted on 18 counts including wire fraud and money laundering charges related to a $3.5 million investment scheme involving jewelry, precious metals, and gemstones. According to the indictment, from 2012-2017 Abraham defrauded at least 7 investors of over $2 million by falsely claiming their money would be used for short-term investments and lying about past profits and the security of the investments. Abraham is also accused of laundering money to conceal the fraud and using accounts not in his name to continue the scheme after banks closed his accounts.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as pdf or txt
    of 2

    United States Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose

    Western District of North Carolina


    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE CONTACT: Lia Bantavani
    THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 21, 2017 704-338-3140
    http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/ncw [email protected]
    CHARLOTTE JEWELER INDICTED ON FRAUD CHARGES IN CONNECTION WITH
    $3.5 MILLION INVESTMENT SCHEME

    CHARLOTTE, N.C. U.S. Attorney Jill Westmoreland Rose announced today that a
    Charlotte area jeweler has been indicted on fraud charges in connection with a $3.5 million
    investment scheme involving jewelry, precious metals and gemstones. A federal grand jury
    returned the 18-count indictment against Benjamin Abraham, 59, on Tuesday, September 19, 2017,
    charging him with one count of wire fraud, and multiple counts of concealment money laundering
    and transactional money laundering. The indictment was unsealed today, following Abrahams
    initial appearance.

    John A. Strong, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Charlotte
    Office and David M. McGinnis, Inspector in Charge of the Charlotte Division of the U.S. Postal
    Inspection Service join U.S. Attorney Rose in making todays announcement.

    According to allegations contained in the indictment, Abraham operated a number of


    businesses engaged in the wholesale and retail sale of diamonds, precious metals and jewelry,
    including Benjamin Diamonds, LLC, Benjamin Jewelers, LLC, Global Trading LLC, G&I USA,
    LLC and other related entities. The indictment alleges that from at least December 2012 through at
    least May 2017, Abraham executed a financial fraud scheme involving investments in jewelry,
    precious metals and gemstones, among other things. During the course of the scheme, Abraham
    induced at least seven victim-investors to invest over $3.5 million, resulting in losses of more than
    $2 million. The indictment alleges that instead of investing the victims money as promised,
    Abraham used it to fund his lifestyle, to keep his struggling businesses afloat, to pay pre-existing
    debts, and to make Ponzi-style payments to other victim-investors.

    According to court records, to induce his victims to part with their money, Abraham made a
    number of fraudulent representations, including that the victims money would be used for short-
    term investments in gold or other precious metals, to invest in diamonds and jewelry obtained from
    estates, and to buy other large diamonds which would be sold for profit. The indictment alleges
    that Abraham also lied to investors about his past successes and profits from engaging in such
    investments, misrepresented the security of the investments and made false representations about
    the rate of return and the duration of the investments. At times, Abraham also induced victims by
    falsely representing that he had unique access to estate sales due to his connections and that he
    would be also be investing his own money.
    In order to continue the fraud scheme and to avoid detection, the indictment alleges that
    when victims asked about the status of their investments, Abraham gave numerous false
    explanations. He also provided victims with checks from accounts that Abraham knew did not
    have sufficient funds to cover the checks, and continued to lie when he was confronted about the
    dishonored checks.

    According to allegations contained in the indictment, in or around early 2016, after a


    number of banks refused to maintain bank accounts over which Abraham had signatory authority,
    Abraham began using bank accounts not associated with his name. The indictment alleges that
    Abraham formed Global Trading LLC, and caused his wife and an employee to open several bank
    accounts in the name of that business. The charging document alleges that Abraham did not have
    signatory authority over the accounts but nevertheless caused financial transactions to be conducted
    in those accounts. The indictment also alleges that Abraham directed several financial transactions
    in one of those accounts to conceal information about the proceeds of the investment scheme,
    including the nature, ownership and source of the funds.

    Abraham appeared today before U.S. Magistrate Judge David C. Keesler. The wire fraud
    count carries a maximum prison term of 20 years and a $250,000 fine. The concealment money
    laundering charges carry a maximum prison term of 20 years and a fine of $500,000 or twice the
    value of the property involved in the transaction, whichever is greater, per count. The transactional
    money laundering charges carry a maximum prison term of 10 years and a $250,000 fine per count.

    The details contained in this indictment are allegations. The defendant is presumed
    innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

    In making todays announcement U.S. Attorney Rose thanked USPIS and the FBI for their
    investigation which led to todays charges.

    Assistant United States Attorneys Daniel Ryan and Dallas Kaplan, of the U.S. Attorneys
    Office in Charlotte, are in charge of the prosecution.

    ###

    You might also like