Guilty of Money Laundering Scheme
Post 5238
See the video at https://lnkd.in/gqh7V46x and at https://lnkd.in/gmE-zrDC and at https://zalma.com/blog plus more than 5200 posts.
Prison Sentence for Fraud Must be Limited to the Fraud in Which the Defendant Participated
In United States v. Stephen O. Anagor, No. 2:24-CR-00019-DCLC-CRW (E.D. Tenn., Nov. 26, 2025) by Judge Clifton L. Corker the government sought to increase the defendant’s sentence because his co-conspirators added a fraudulent FBI scam that resulted in the victim’s suicide. Anagor sought a lower sentence because he was only involved in part of the fraud.
Charges & Plea
Defendant, a U.S. Army soldier pled guilty on June 11, 2025 to Conspiracy to Commit Mail and Wire Fraud, Aiding and Abetting Aggravated Stalking Resulting in Death and Aiding and Abetting Aggravated Identity Theft that was part of a larger 38-count superseding indictment against Anagor and co-defendants Chinagorom Onwumere and Salma Abdalkareem for an international Nigerian-based romance-scam + follow-on “law-enforcement extortion” scheme.
Role of Anagor
Anagor recruited co-defendant Onwumere into the money-laundering side of the scam and received victim checks in the mail, deposited them into his own U.S. bank accounts, kept a cut, and wired the rest overseas (primarily to Nigeria).
Anagor purchased and sent flowers/gifts to victims to maintain the illusion of romance, knew the funds were proceeds of romance-scam fraud but did not know the specific communications with victims and was not aware that Nigerian co-conspirators were running a secondary “impersonate the FBI/Attorney General” extortion scheme on top of the romance scam.
Key Victim (Victim 1) & Tragic Outcome
An elderly retired teacher from Jonesborough, TN believed he was in a romantic relationship with a celebrity. Nude photos from scammers in Nigeria then switched to impersonating federal law enforcement, threatened exposure/arrest, and extorted $97,500 (his entire life savings) via checks and cashier’s checks sent to Onwumere/Abdalkareem.
After paying, the retired teacher faced continued threats that escalated to the point that Victim 1 sent suicidal messages to the scammers (thinking they were the “celebrity”) and on October 23, 2023 Victim 1 committed suicide.
Anagor knew Victim 1 was being targeted (saw his name and the laundering accounts in WhatsApp messages) and personally received $33,430 that originated from Victim 1’s money laundered through Onwumere/Abdalkareem, but he did not know about the law-enforcement impersonation, the threats, or the suicidal messages.
KEY LEGAL TAKEAWAYS FROM THE OPINION
Relevant Conduct (U.S.S.G. §1B1.3)
Anagor was responsible for the core romance-scam money-laundering activity he agreed to and could reasonably foresee, yet the court concluded he is not responsible for the Nigerian co-conspirators’ separate law-enforcement extortion tactics or knowledge of Victim 1’s suicidal ideation because those were outside the scope of the jointly undertaken activity he signed up for.
2B1.1(B)(16)(A) “Conscious Or Reckless Risk Of Death” In Fraud Cases
The statute requires either (i) subjective awareness, or (ii) objective recklessness. In the Sixth Circuit, the risk must be “actual, not conjectural.”
Mere participation in a romance scam that tragically ends in suicide is not enough for the enhancement when the defendant was unaware of the specific threats or victim’s mental state.
BOTTOM LINE
As of November 26, 2025, the court rejected the government’s attempts to add +4 levels to the fraud guideline calculation. The original (lower) offense level stands going into the December 2, 2025 sentencing hearing, where the court will still consider possible upward variances under 18 U.S.C. § 3553(a) because of the victim’s death and the overall egregiousness of the scheme.
ZALMA OPINION
Fraud schemes based in Nigeria have been rampant since I obtained adulthood in the 1960’s with even my older brother almost became a victim. Anagor, while serving as a soldier in the US Army participated in a fairly successful money laundering scheme by convincing an elderly man into a romance scam where he was led to believe he had a romantic involvement with a celebrity. The scheme went bad when they Nigerians claimed to be FBI agents who threatened him with arrest until he paid his life savings to the fraudsters. Anagor was allowed to be sentenced for the money laundering but not the FBI scheme that resulted in the victim’s suicide. He will be sentenced but not enhanced.
(c) 2025 Barry Zalma & ClaimSchool, Inc.
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Insurance Expert May Not Testify to Speculative and Contains Unsupported Conclusions.
Posted on September 18, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the full video at and at https://rumble.com/v7fmifw-expert-may-only-testify-to-what-experience-supports.html
In Michele A. Over, and The Estate Of Paul R. Over v. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, and State Farm Fire And Casualty Company, Civil Action No. 23-cv-02243-PAB-STV, United States District Court, D. Colorado (September 14, 2026) Michele and Paul Over sued State Farm Fire and State Farm Auto over hail-damage and stolen-vehicle claims.
The operative dispute concerned State Farm Auto’s motion to exclude or limit opinions from plaintiffs’ insurance-industry expert, Aaron Castillo. Castillo.
Law
The proponent of expert testimony must establish by a preponderance of the evidence that an expert is qualified and that the opinions are helpful, sufficiently grounded, and reliably derived and applied. Experience-based opinions must explain how the...
150 Months in Prison for Tax Fraud
Post 4846
Posted on September 17, 2026 by Barry Zalma
See the full video at https://lnkd.in/g8rh3JBX and https://lnkd.in/gmkdy-9C, In United States Of America v. Thomas Addaquay, Nos. 25-10609, 25-10611, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (September 9, 2026) the Eleventh Circuit affirmed all challenged convictions, the 150-month aggregate sentence, and the challenged $4,123,474.55 restitution award.
FACTS
In United States Of America v. Thomas Addaquay, United States Of America v. Thomas Addaquay, Nos. 25-10609, 25-10611, United States Court of Appeals, Eleventh Circuit (September 9, 2026) the Eleventh Circuit affirmed all challenged convictions, the 150-month aggregate sentence, and the challenged $4,123,474.55 restitution award.
FACTS
Thomas Addaquay controlled United Consolidated Accounting and Business Services (UC), nominally a check-cashing business.
The government proved a three-stage tax-refund scheme that converted the resulting refund checks into usable funds through ...
Major Fraud Perpetrator Asserts Fifth Amendment Privilege to Avoid Prosecution
Post 5489
Posted on September 14, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Fraudster Refuses to Answer Questions About His Alleged Fraud
See the full video at https://lnkd.in/gvicAMDr and at https://lnkd.in/gvicAMDr
In Great American Insurance Co. v. Gemstone Property Management, LLC, et al., No. 23-cv-9100 (LJL), United States District Court, S.D. New York (September 8, 2026) Great American Insurance Company alleged that it was defrauded through a scheme in which Subin Associates, LLP recruited individuals to stage construction-site injuries, arranged unnecessary medical treatment and litigation funding, and pursued fraudulent personal-injury claims.
Luis Manuel Garcia Salcedo, resulted in a $6 million settlement. Non-party Jose Hernandez allegedly worked as an assistant manager at Subin, operated Hernandez Associates, and owned litigation-funding companies that shared office space with Subin and provided services to its clients.
After Great American ...
If Grounds For Dismissal Are Apparent From The Face Of The Complaint, A Court May Also Dismiss The Case on The Court’s Own Motion
Posted on October 5, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Pro Se Plaintiff Failed to Make a Short and Plain Statement
Post 4856
In Tak Lun Ng v. United Financial Casualty Company, No. 26-cv-03136-LJC, United States District Court, N.D. California (September 28, 2026) Tak Lun Ng, proceeding pro se, sued United Financial Casualty Company over a March 2, 2021 automobile accident and the insurer’s March 24, 2021 refusal to pay him.
He appeared to assert breach of contract, fraud, negligence, premises liability, product liability, and related theories. United removed the action from state court and moved to dismiss.
Ng missed that deadline but later filed several documents, including a motion for leave to amend, all of which the court reviewed.
LAW
Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a complaint must provide a short and plain statement containing enough factual matter to state a facially plausible...
If Grounds For Dismissal Are Apparent From The Face Of The Complaint, A Court May Also Dismiss The Case on The Court’s Own Motion
Posted on October 5, 2026 by Barry Zalma
Pro Se Plaintiff Failed to Make a Short and Plain Statement
Post 4856
In Tak Lun Ng v. United Financial Casualty Company, No. 26-cv-03136-LJC, United States District Court, N.D. California (September 28, 2026) Tak Lun Ng, proceeding pro se, sued United Financial Casualty Company over a March 2, 2021 automobile accident and the insurer’s March 24, 2021 refusal to pay him.
He appeared to assert breach of contract, fraud, negligence, premises liability, product liability, and related theories. United removed the action from state court and moved to dismiss.
Ng missed that deadline but later filed several documents, including a motion for leave to amend, all of which the court reviewed.
LAW
Under Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, a complaint must provide a short and plain statement containing enough factual matter to state a facially plausible...
Employee Report of Fraud Results in Damages Suit After Qui Tam Suit Settled
No Statutory Hearing Right Arose Because No Dental Commission Complaint License Suspension, Revocation, Or Sanction Occurred.
Post 4855
Posted on October 2, 2026 by Barry Zalma
In Abbas Mohammadi et al. v. William M. Tong et al., No. AC 47598, Court of Appeals of Connecticut (September 29, 2026) Abbas Mohammadi owned and operated Columbia Dental, P.C., which provided dental services through multiple Connecticut offices; Columbia Oral Maxillofacial Imaging, LLC served as the billing entity.
From April 2012 to February 27, 2013, Columbia Dental employed Brittany Ames Mahoney as a dental assistant. During her employment, Mahoney claimed to have discovered certain billing irregularities, including, but not limited to, false and fraudulent reimbursement claims submitted to the Department of Social Services for services rendered to Medicaid beneficiaries. Mahoney filed a complaint and an affidavit in the United States District Court for the District of...
