The Shell Company Guy: A Mississippi Plea in a Tech Support Ring

In this case, that somebody was in Carthage, Mississippi.

What happened?

On April 26, 2021, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of Mississippi, part of the Department of Justice (DOJ), announced that Neman Zahid, 33, of Carthage, pleaded guilty to money laundering. The charge was part of what prosecutors called an international tech support and telemarketing fraud scheme.

Here's the setup, according to the indictment and testimony in court:

• A federal grand jury returned the indictment on March 19, 2019. It charged ten defendants in the United States and abroad.
• From no later than about January 10, 2015, through about December 20, 2018, Zahid conspired with eight other defendants in the U.S. and India.
• The ring sent tech support emails or telephone messages falsely telling people their computers had malware or were compromised, then offered to "fix" them for a price.
• Once victims allowed remote access, conspirators helped themselves to personal identification information and bank account passwords.
• Victims were often senior citizens.

So what did Zahid actually do?

He didn't make the calls, according to the release. He built the plumbing.

Zahid incorporated a company called US Professional Support, Inc. and opened bank accounts for it. The conspirators then used the business names and accounts to move money taken from victims.

That's it. Paperwork. Read that again. And that paperwork is what landed him a guilty plea with a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison. Sentencing was set before Chief U.S. District Judge Daniel P. Jordan III for August 20, 2021.

Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) investigated the case.

Here's the thing ...

People think the guy on the phone is the only one at risk. Nope.

If you lend your name, your entity, or your bank account to somebody else's call operation, you are part of the operation. Prosecutors follow the money, and the money runs through your account.

I've seen good people get talked into "just being the U.S. entity" for an overseas partner. Don't. Ask what the money is for. Ask where the calls come from. If the answers are vague, walk.

What to do this week

• Know who you're doing business with. Real names, real addresses, real customers.
• Never front a company or a bank account for an operation you can't see into.
• Watch for refund and chargeback spikes. They tell you what consumers think is going on.
• Get out fast when the story doesn't add up.

Protect your name. It's the only one you get.