HUNTSVILLE, Ala. (WAFF) – A Huntsville grand jury charged an Egyptian with conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud.
According to court records, 21-year-old Kareem Mustafa Ahmad of Alexandria, Egypt, used the persona “Noir” on Telegram and operated the channel “Noir’s Luxury Refunds” and other fraud-based Telegram channels.
The channel was dedicated to return fraught where a purchaser claims to return an item, receives a refund, but keeps the product.
Customers would pay Noir’s organization a percentage of the price in exchange for the organization fraudulently refunding the item on the customer’s behalf.
The organization profited itself as having the expertise to defraud retailers across the world in a wide range of industries.
The organization had over 5,900 followers at one time and operated from July 2020 until July 2022.
The group obtained refunds, or attempted to obtain refunds, for millions of dollars’ worth of products.
Noir’s Luxury Refunds used a variety of tactics to commit refund fraud, including manipulating shipping labels to deceive a retailer into believing they received a returned product when they had not.
They also developed a malware that would target retailers’ websites to facilitate refund fraud by circumventing fraud prevention measures.
In related cases, eight defendants have already pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud based on their roles in Noir’s Organization:
Damion Wayne Scarlett, also known as “Dash,” 26, from Deer Park, New York;
Dhruv Gargi, also known as “Panda,” 25, from Newark, New Jersey;
David James Park, also known as “Plutus,” 23, from Phoenix, Arizona;
Nicholas John Caruso, also known as “Deaf,” 32, from Dallas, Texas;
Jennifer Mireya Palma, also known as “Bianca,” 24, from Los Angeles, California;
CK Chikong Tran, also known as “Radiant,” 30, from New York, New York;
Tyree Samuel Tinsley, also known as “Tysamtin,” 31, from Richmond, Virginia; and
Jason Seib, also known as “Waynor,” 43, from Mississauga, Ontario, Canada.
The maximum penalty for conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud is 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
