A criticism was unsealed now in federal court docket in Brooklyn charging David Motovich, principal of a lumber and building supplies company, with financial institution fraud, aggravated identity theft and witness tampering. Motovich was arrested this early morning and will make his original visual appearance right before United States Justice of the peace Decide Roanne L. Mann this afternoon.
Jacquelyn M. Kasulis, Acting United States Lawyer for the Eastern District of New York, Michael J. Driscoll, Assistant Director-in-Charge, Federal Bureau of Investigation, New York Subject Office environment (FBI), and Thomas Fattorusso, Acting Exclusive Agent-in-Cost, Interior Earnings Support-Prison Investigation (IRS-CI), announced the arrest and rates.
“As alleged, the defendant used a seemingly authentic, family-run enterprise as a front for partaking in a $55 million verify cashing scheme that deliberately flouted federal banking and anti-revenue laundering regulations. Even more, as regulation enforcement was closing in on his schemes, Motovich attempted to derail the government’s investigation by tampering with witnesses,” mentioned Performing U.S. Legal professional Kasulis. “Today’s arrest demonstrates that this Place of work will consider down and vigorously prosecute defendants like Motovich, who circumvent compliance with federal economical laws out of greed, just to line his very own pockets and stay a lifetime of luxurious.” Ms. Kasulis also expressed her appreciation to the U.S. Attorney’s Business for the District of New Jersey for their support with the case.
“Federal banking legislation exist to secure the industry from fraud and the normal community from income laundering schemes that often more felony exercise. Motovich, as alleged, broke these laws in buy to advance his individual financial pursuits,” stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Demand Driscoll. “To make matters even worse, he’s also accused of tampering with federal government witnesses. Rest certain this type of illegal conduct will be aggressively pursued by the FBI and our partners.”
“The various techniques Mr. Motovich allegedly devised has wonderful effects on both his clients and the United States treasury,” stated IRS-CI Acting Specific Agent-in-Charge Fattorusso. “In our current environment, the expert services provided by federal and regional governments are sorely wanted. The allegations in this criticism call for the monetary skills IRS-CI delivers in get to unravel the complexities of this kind of crimes.”
As alleged in the criticism, since at least 2012, Motovich has operated an unlawful verify cashing business from his place of work at his relatives-run lumber business enterprise found in the Midwood portion of Brooklyn. The consumers of Motovich’s unlawful check out cashing small business are mainly the proprietors and operators of building corporations who pay their personnel in money to prevent having to pay out condition and federal employment taxes, including taxes owed underneath the Federal Profits Contributions Act. As component of the plan, Motovich cashed hundreds of thousands of dollars of checks for his buyers in exchange for a payment or a proportion of the confront amount of the checks, ranging among four and 10 p.c. Motovich’s consumers paid a higher payment to Motovich than the charges charged by licensed look at cashing businesses due to the fact the consumers understood that Motovich would not file Forex Transaction Reports for cash transactions in quantities bigger than $10,000 or Suspicious Activity Reports, as expected by federal anti-funds laundering statutes. Motovich equipped his check cashing shoppers with fraudulent documents that they could use to disguise the transactions as payments by the clients for products and/or subcontracting do the job if the shoppers had been audited by the New York Condition Workers Payment Board or tax authorities.
In furtherance of his scheme, Motovich established shell organizations for the sole purpose of facilitating his unlawful look at cashing business enterprise and instructed his buyers to problem checks drawn towards their organization accounts and make the checks payable to just one of the corporations. Motovich then deposited the checks into financial institution accounts that he made at a number of monetary institutions. To conceal his handle and ownership of the resources in the accounts, and to prevent detection of his scheme, Motovich opened the accounts in the names of other individuals.
In overall, in between 2012 and 2019, Motovich deposited extra than $55 million into the accounts that he had opened in the names of other individuals and used the money to invest in true estate fork out private and company credit rating card accounts purchase luxurious items, which includes millions of bucks of diamonds, watches, jewellery and outfits make lease and buy payments for Porsche and Lexus luxurious automobiles pay out rates on multi-million greenback daily life insurance plan insurance policies for himself, his wife and some others make renovations to his penthouse condominium and to fund other business ventures.
When Motovich turned knowledgeable of the government’s investigation, he tampered with witnesses by encouraging them not to cooperate with the govt, which include encouraging them to fireplace their lawyers and retain attorneys that he had handpicked for them, and by paying at least a single witness and that witness’s family members members so that the witness would not cooperate with legislation enforcement.
The rates in the complaint are allegations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless of course and till tested responsible.
The government’s circumstance is currently being dealt with by the Office’s Public Integrity Section. Assistant United States Attorneys Robert Polemeni, Erik Paulsen and Kaitlin T. Farrell are in cost of the prosecution, with assistance from EDNY Exclusive Agents George Dietz and Martin Sullivan.
The Defendant
DAVID MOTOVICH
Age: 46
New York, New York
E.D.N.Y. Docket No. 21-MJ-979