A New Jersey man has been sentenced to 27 months in federal prison for defrauding Korean investors through a sugar trading scam, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of New Jersey on June 4.
Fraud scheme involved fake contracts and Korean partners
Mohammed Rahman, a 64-year-old resident of Iselin, Middlesex County, operated a fake company named Caltech Trading Corporation. Prosecutors said he conspired with accomplices in South Korea to lure around 60 victims, claiming he would buy and resell $1 million worth of Brazilian sugar at a profit.
Rahman presented false contracts guaranteeing 100 percent returns to secure investments. However, the money was never used to purchase sugar. Instead, it was deposited into Rahman’s personal account and spent on private expenses, including mortgage payments. He also manipulated bank records to hide the misuse of funds.
Court orders restitution and international cooperation noted
In addition to his prison sentence, Rahman was ordered to serve two years of supervised release, pay $1,393,200 in restitution, and forfeit $1 million in illegal gains.
The case was jointly investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI). Authorities in South Korea, including the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the Seoul Central District Prosecutors’ Office, also assisted in the probe.
BY HANKIL KANG [kang.hankil@koreadaily.com]
