Florida: Federal prison for a resident for fraud

MIAMI–. Arvaham Zano, 36 years old and resident in Hollywood, Floridawas sentenced yesterday to eight years of prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to pay sums of $334,499.73 and $2,877,497.35 in restitution, joint and several, with co-defendant Sofein Mlayah, 28, of North Miami Beach.

The sentencing follows Zano’s guilty plea to wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property and failure to relinquish possession of household goods, for his role in operating an interstate moving company scam that included inflating the costs of interstate customer moves and then taking possession of the customer’s household belongings, failing to deliver the goods as promised, and abandoning them across the country in undisclosed storage facilities, often resulting in the total loss of the client’s property.

This was revealed in a report by the Public Affairs Unit of the United States Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida. The document further explains that Zano operated two companies, including Zano Moving and Storage, LLC, and acquired jobs through various moving brokers.

These brokers would negotiate a moving service fee with a client, then subcontract the moving work to one of Zano’s companies. With subcontracts in hand, Zano and his drivers, including Mlayah, traveled to job sites, often on different dates than originally scheduled and sometimes late at night, loading household items for transport. to a truck. Zano or Mlayah would tell customers they had more household items than the mover had originally estimated. These brokers would negotiate a moving service fee with a client, then subcontract the moving work to one of Zano’s companies. With subcontracts in hand, Zano and his drivers, including Mlayah, traveled to job sites, often on different dates than originally scheduled and sometimes late at night, loading household items for transport. to a truck. Zano or Mlayah would tell customers they had more household items than the mover had originally estimated.

Then, according to the report, with the items already in the truck, they demanded more money to start the move, sometimes two or three times the original estimate. “If the customers refused, they risked losing their deposits and belongings. Zano and Mlayah would often argue with the victims and force them to pay more for their moves, and on other occasions, Zano and Mlayah would not start loading the trucks. until they received the highest rates; loaded the trucks but never delivered the items; or charged the victims false storage fees. Most of the victim’s household items have never been recovered.”

For his part, Mlayah was sentenced on June 6 to 30 months in prison for his role in the scheme. United States Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Todd A. Damiani of the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (“DOT-OIG”), Southern Region, announced the sentence handed down by United States District Court Judge Raag Singhal.

The FBI Miami and DOT-OIG investigated this case with the assistance of the Sunny Isles Beach Police Department. Assistant US Attorney Marc Anton prosecuted him. Assistant US Attorney Emily Stone is handling the asset forfeiture.