Whitestone man found guilty of defrauding
Queens Korean American investors: Feds
BY BILL PARRY
A Jamaica man was sentenced
to more than three decades
in prison in Brooklyn federal
court Wednesday, Nov. 17,
for attempting to provide material
support to ISIS after declaring
that he was “ready to die”
for the Islamic State in Syria
and Iraq beginning in 2013, according
to federal prosecutors.
Ali Saleh, 28, was sentenced
by U.S. District Judge William
F. Kuntz II to 30 years in prison
for attempting to support the
designated foreign terrorist organization.
Saleh pleaded guilty
to the charge in 2018, according
to the U.S. Attorney’s Office
for the Eastern District of New
York.
Saleh was also sentenced
to 100 months in prison for assaulting
a federal correctional
office and possessing contraband
at the Metropolitan Detention
Center in Brooklyn, to run
consecutive to the terrorism
sentence.
“Today’s sentence demonstrates
the strong commitment
of this office and its law enforcement
partners to rooting
out and prosecuting dangerous
jihadists like Saleh and stopping
their efforts to support
terrorist attacks at home or
abroad,” U.S. Attorney Breon
Peace said. “Saleh is also held
accountable for his vicious and
premeditated attack on a federal
correctional officer while
in pre-trial detention.”
According to court filings,
Saleh made several attempts to
travel to the Middle East to become
a foreign fighter for ISIS
after becoming interested in the
Syria conflict in 2013. On Aug.
25, 2014, Saleh stated online,
“I’m ready to die for the Caliphate,
prison is nothing.”
Just three days later on Aug.
28, Saleh made an airline reservation
to travel from New York
to Turkey, and stated online,
“Let’s be clear the Muslims in
the khilafah caliphate need
help, the one who is capable to
go over and help the Muslims
must go and help.” Saleh was
ultimately prevented from getting
on the plane because his
TIMESLEDGER | Q 18 NS.COM | NOV. 26 - DEC. 2, 2021
parents took away his passport.
Saleh then switched gears
and began to try and facilitate
others’ support for ISIS, according
to court filings. In October
2014, Saleh used an online messaging
platform to communicate
with an ISIS supporter in
Mali, sending him a wire transfer
in the amount of $500 to fund
that person’s travel to Syria.
Around the same time period,
Saleh reportedly communicated
with several other
individuals, including known
ISIS supporters in the United
Kingdom and Australia, in an
effort to facilitate their support
of ISIS.
“Saleh made numerous attempts
to travel overseas to join
ISIS, and when those efforts
failed, attempted to assist others
in joining the terrorist organization,”
said Matthew G. Olsen,
assistant attorney general for
the Justice Department’s National
Security Division. “With
the sentences handed down
today, he is being held accountable
for these crimes.”
According to court filings,
over a 10-day period in 2015,
Saleh made five separate attempts
to travel to the Middle
East to fight for ISIS. In September
of 2015, Saleh was arrested
at his Jamaica home by agents
of the Joint Terrorism Task
Force. They recovered a duffle
bag full of survival gear as well
as a black trunk containing 29
machetes.
“Ali Saleh’s attempts to support
ISIS, and his subsequent
attack on a federal correctional
officer, resulted in the penalties
enforced on him today,” FBI Assistant
Director-in-Charge Michael
Driscoll said. “The FBI’s
JTTF here in New York, along
with our partners, continues to
lead the way in presenting and
intercepting threats posed by
those like Saleh, who seek to
harm our citizens at home and
overseas.”
Reach reporter Bill Parry
by e-mail at bparry@
schnepsmedia.com or by phone
at (718) 260–4538.
BY BILL PARRY
A Whitestone man was convicted
by a federal jury in Brooklyn of securities
and wire fraud conspiracies
that targeted the Korean American
community in Queens, according
to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the
Eastern District of New York.
John Won, 53, the president of
GNS Capital, was found guilty last
week on all five counts of an indictment
charging him with securities
fraud, wire fraud and money laundering
conspiracies, as well as substantive
securities fraud, federal
prosecutors said.
Won was convicted following a
weeklong trial before U.S. District
Judge Raymond J. Dearle in Brooklyn
federal court.
Won faces a maximum of 20 years
in prison.
As proven at trial, between February
2012 and December 2013, Won
conspired with co-defendant Tae
Hung Kang, 57, of Bayside, and others
in a scheme to defraud Korean
American victims into investing in
foreign exchange trading accounts
and in their company known as
ForexPower.
The conspirators issued advertisements
in Korean-language newspapers
and on Korean-language radio
stations claiming the ForexPower
had a secret algorithmic trading
method used to trade in the foreign
exchange market that guaranteed
investors 10% monthly returns at no
risk of loss.
In reality, ForexPower had no
successful trading method and all
of their customer accounts suffered
substantial losses.
The conspirators also induced investors
to purchase stock issued by
ForexPower by falsely claiming that
the invested funds would be used to
expand the business to a new location
in New Jersey or pooled and
used to trade foreign currencies. In
truth, Won and his co-conspirators
misappropriated a substantial portion
of the funds, spending the remainder
on, among other things, the
fraudulent advertisements.
“John Won and his co-conspirators
targeted the Korean American
community in our district and cheated
them out of hundreds of thousands
on the hard-earned dollars through
a web of false promises, lies and
deceit,” U.S. Attorney Breon Peace
said. “Today’s verdict demonstrates
the resolve of this office and our law
enforcement partners to prosecuting
those who engage in fraud and betray
the trust of their investors.”
Co-defendant Kang, also known
as “Kevin Kang,” pleaded guilty to
scamming his clients in March to
conspiracy to commit securities
fraud. Kang is awaiting sentencing.
Reach reporter Bill Parry by e-mail
at bparry@schnepsmedia.com or by
phone at (718) 260–4538.
A Whitestone man was convicted of securities and wire fraud conspiracies
relating to the foreign exchange market targeting the Korean American community
in Queens. Photo via Shutterstock
Militant Islamist fighters waving flags, travel in vehicles as they
take part in a military parade along the streets of Syria’s northern
Raqqa province June 30, 2014. Photo via REUTERS
Jamaica man sentenced after attempting
to support and fight for ISIS, feds say
/schnepsmedia.com
/NS.COM
link
link
