Date: June 4, 2025
Contact: [email protected]
Trenton, NJ — A Middlesex County, New Jersey man was sentenced to prison for defrauding victims in South Korea through a bogus investment scheme, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.
Mohammed Rahman of Iselin, New Jersey, was sentenced to 27 months in prison. Rahman previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner to an information charging him with conspiracy to commit wire fraud.
According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:
Rahman controlled a company, Caltech Trading Corporation, through which he purported to buy and sell commodities. Rahman and other individuals in South Korea persuaded approximately 60 victims there to invest funds purportedly toward the purchase of $1 million of sugar from Brazil, which Caltech would then sell for a substantial profit. Rahman and his associates memorialized the investment terms in a fraudulent investment agreement that falsely promised the victim investors that they would receive a one hundred percent return on their investment. The victims relied on Rahman’s misrepresentations about how their funds would be used to purchase sugar. In reality, the funds were wired into Rahman’s bank account and used to pay his personal expenses, including his mortgage. Rahman also altered his bank account statement in an attempt to conceal the fact that he did not use the investors’ funds to purchase sugar.
In addition to the prison term, Judge Castner sentenced Rahman to two years of supervised release and to pay $1,393,200 in restitution to the victims. Judge Castner ordered forfeiture of $1,000,000, constituting proceeds derived from the conspiracy.
U.S. Attorney Habba credited special agents of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Jenifer Piovesan, and special agents of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Homeland Security Investigations, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Ricky J. Patel in Newark, with the investigation. She also thanked the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office for their assistance.
The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica R. Ecker of the Health Care Fraud & Opioids Abuse Prevention Unit in Newark.
IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI) is the law enforcement arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a 90% federal conviction rate. The agency has 19 field offices located across the U.S. and 14 attaché posts abroad.