Court filing
Transcript of Zoom Videoconference Preliminary Examination — United States v. Bobga (Dkt. 64-6, W.D. Pa.)
Summary
A transcript of a Zoom videoconference preliminary examination recorded on Wednesday, June 9, 2021 in United States v. Desmond Fodje Bobga, Criminal Action No. 20-1365, before United States Magistrate Judge Patricia L. Dodge in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, filed March 28, 2022 as Exhibit G, Document 64-6, in Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF. Ira M. Karoll and Wei Xiang appear for the government and Sarah E. Levin for the defendant. Special Agent Anna Boling testifies under oath on direct and cross-examination, including about a 302 from the case agent. The transcript runs 69 pages.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Filed March 28, 2022 in Desmond Fodje Bobga; one of 4 filings from this case.
Record facts
| Court | U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania |
|---|---|
| Filed | 2022-03-28 |
Cite this document
“Transcript of Zoom Videoconference Preliminary Examination — United States v. Bobga (Dkt. 64-6, W.D. Pa.).”
U.S. District Court for the Western District of Pennsylvania, No. 2:21-cr-00430, Doc. 64-6, filed 2022-03-28. Archived at Pandemic Darlings, https://pandemicdarlings.com/court-filings/us-v-desmond-fodje-bobga/2022-03-28-transcript-of-zoom-videoconference-preliminary-examination-dkt-64-6/
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Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 1 of 69
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE WESTERN DISTRICT OF PENNSYLVANIA
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA,
Plaintiff,
Criminal Action
vs.
No. 20-1365
DESMOND FODJE BOBGA,
Defendant.
___________________________________
Transcript of ZOOM VIDEOCONFERENCE PRELIMINARY
EXAMINATION recorded on Wednesday, June 9, 2021, in the
United States District Court, 700 Grant Street, Pittsburgh,
Pennsylvania, before The Hon. Patricia L. Dodge, United
States Magistrate Judge
APPEARANCES:
For the Government: Ira M. Karoll, Esq.
United States Attorney's Office
700 Grant Street, Ste. 4000
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
Wei Xiang, Esq.
DOJ-Civ
450 Fifth Street NW, Ste. 6400
Washington, DC 20001
For the Defendant: Sarah E. Levin, Esq.
Federal Public Defender's Office
1500 Liberty Center
1001 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, PA 15222-3714
Court Reporter: Deborah Rowe, RMR, CRR
700 Grant Street, Ste. 5300
Pittsburgh, PA 15219
(412) 471-2510
Proceedings recorded by mechanical stenography; transcript
produced by computer-aided transcription
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 2 of 69
2
1 P R O C E E D I N G S
2 - - -
3 (8:57 a.m.; Zoom videoconference proceedings:)
4 MR. BANAS: Sir, I'm going to put you in a room
5 with your attorney for a few minutes so that she may talk to
6 you for a few moments before we begin. Okay?
7 THE DEFENDANT: Okay.
8 (Defendant and defense counsel, Ms. Levin, confer
9 privately in Zoom breakout room.)
10 MR. KAROLL: Mike, at the last hearing Sarah had
11 asked that we give someone capability to share their screen
12 to show exhibits. And I'm not sure -- I know you came to
13 this when we were already halfway through, but I wanted to
14 just check if we would have that capability.
15 We have Miss Sandy Maher on. She's ready and able
16 I believe, but I want to make sure we have the capability
17 while we're waiting.
18 MR. BANAS: Yes. Once she's ready to share any
19 documents, I'll just make her a temporary co-host, and she
20 will be able to share her screen at that point.
21 (9:03 a.m.; Zoom videoconference proceedings:)
22 MS. LEVIN: We are back and ready as soon as
23 Mr. Bobga makes his way back in.
24 MR. BANAS: Excellent. I'll close the breakout
25 rooms.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 3 of 69
3
1 (9:04 a.m.; Zoom videoconference proceedings:)
2 MR. BANAS: The United States District Court for
3 the Western District of Pennsylvania is now in session, The
4 Honorable Judge Dodge presiding.
5 THE COURT: All right. Good morning, everyone. I
6 want to remind everyone that we're here today in the matter
7 of the United States versus Desmond Bobga at 20-MJ-1365.
8 Could counsel identify themselves, please?
9 MR. XIANG: Good morning, Your Honor. Wei Xiang
10 and Ira Karoll on behalf of the Government.
11 THE COURT: Good morning.
12 MS. LEVIN: Good morning, Your Honor. Sarah Levin
13 on behalf of Mr. Bobga.
14 THE COURT: Good morning. I know that we asked
15 this the last time. Ms. Levin, I'm assuming that Mr. Bobga
16 continues to consent to proceeding here today by video?
17 MS. LEVIN: Yes, Your Honor.
18 THE COURT: All right. So we're going to mute him
19 just because I know there's some background noise.
20 Mr. Bobga, at any time if you need to speak or talk
21 with your attorney, I'll ask you just to raise your right
22 hand, and we'll make sure that we understand what your issue
23 is.
24 I also want to remind counsel that at the
25 conclusion of our last session both of you gave estimates as
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 4 of 69
4
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 to the amount of time that you still required. So we've
2 allotted an additional two hours for today's proceeding. We
3 will need to make a hard stop at 11:15. So please plan your
4 morning accordingly so that we can conclude today.
5 With that, Mr. Xiang, are you ready to proceed?
6 MR. XIANG: Yes, Your Honor.
7 THE COURT: All right. Please feel free to do so.
8 Special Agent Boling, I just want to remind you that you're
9 still under oath.
10 (The witness, SPECIAL AGENT ANNA BOLING, having
11 been previously sworn, further testified as follows:)
12 DIRECT EXAMINATION
13 BY MR. XIANG:
14 Q. Agent Boling, last time we went over Victims 1, 2, 4
15 and 6. Today we'll go over 3 and 5. So let's go back to
16 Government Exhibit 8B as in boy.
17 THE COURT: What exhibit was that?
18 MR. XIANG: B, Your Honor, as in boy.
19 THE COURT: Okay. Got it.
20 MR. XIANG: If Ms. Maher can put that up on the
21 screen.
22 MS. MAHER: I'm sorry. Did you say Exhibit AB?
23 MR. XIANG: 8, 8B.
24 BY MR. XIANG:
25 Q. And Special Agent Boling, if we go to the second to
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 5 of 69
5
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 last line in that list?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Just to rehash, this was the list of cookie linked
4 accounts to fodjebobga1@gmail.com; is that right?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And that second to last E-mail account that's listed
7 on there, what is that?
8 A. That's unitedpetsafe2009@gmail.com.
9 Q. Did the FBI obtain data from Google for that account
10 as well?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. Let's go to Government Exhibit 11A as in Adam. Is
13 this the subscriber information for unitedpetsafe2009?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. Let's go to the middle, the recovery E-mail line.
16 According to Google, what was the recovery E-mail account for
17 unitedpetsafe2009?
18 A. The recovery E-mail for this account is
19 fodjebobga1@gmail.com.
20 Q. And let's turn to page 2. In the middle for 2020,
21 January 10, 09:45 UTC, those two -- that line and the line
22 below that?
23 A. Uh-huh.
24 Q. Is this the same 144 IP address that we saw with the
25 other counts that we went over the last time?
Exhibit G
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6
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. And on or about the same date and time?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. So now let's go to Government Exhibit 11F as in Frank.
5 What is this exhibit?
6 A. This is an E-mail from Paxful to the
7 unitedpetsafe2009@gmail.com. And it's a subject line saying,
8 "Your I.D. has been verified."
9 Q. Was this E-mail recovered from the unitedpetsafe2009
10 Google mailbox?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And what's the receipt date of this E-mail?
13 A. January 10, 2020.
14 Q. And the name, who is it addressed to?
15 A. It's addressed to Desmond Fodje Bobga in the contents
16 of the E-mail.
17 Q. Let's go to Government Exhibit 11G as in George,
18 another E-mail from Paxful to unitedpetsafe2009?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And then just in the first paragraph, the last line of
21 that -- the last two lines of that first paragraph?
22 A. Uh-huh.
23 Q. Does it also note the same IP address we've been
24 talking about, the 144 address?
25 A. Yes.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 7 of 69
7
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 Q. And where according to this login E-mail is that
2 address located, come back to?
3 A. Cluj, Romania.
4 Q. Now let's go to Government Exhibit 11D as in David.
5 What is this exhibit?
6 A. This is an E-mail from the unitedpetsafe gmail dated
7 in 2019 to fodjebobga1@gmail.com with an attachment.
8 Q. What's the date and time of this E-mail?
9 A. This is October 2, 2019.
10 Q. At?
11 A. 2:47 a.m.
12 Q. Okay. Let's now go to Government Exhibit 11E as in
13 Eddie. This is the redacted version that's on the screen
14 here, but do you recognize this document?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And specifically this particular exhibit, is this the
17 copy of the attachment to the E-mail that we saw in 11D?
18 A. Yes, it is.
19 MR. XIANG: Ms. Maher, are you able to pull up a
20 compare of 11E and 8G as in George?
21 (Brief pause.)
22 MR. XIANG: I'm sorry. 8G.
23 Q. Special Agent Boling, were these two exhibits the same
24 document?
25 A. Yes.
Exhibit G
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8
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 MR. XIANG: Now can we pull up side by side 11D as
2 in David and 8C as in Charlie?
3 Q. Special Agent Boling, we went over 8C last time. This
4 was an E-mail from fodjebobga1 to -- outbound from
5 fodjebobga1; right?
6 A. Correct.
7 Q. And the time stamp shown on that is ten minutes after
8 fodjebobga1 received the E-mail from United Pet Safe?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Attaching the same document that was received from
11 United Pet Safe?
12 A. Yes.
13 MR. XIANG: Now let's go to Government's Exhibit
14 11B as in boy.
15 Q. And what we have up on the screen is the redacted
16 version. Special Agent Boling, do you recognize this
17 exhibit?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. How do you recognize it?
20 A. This is a draft E-mail. It was unsent in the
21 unitedpetsafe2009@gmail.com mailbox dated March 17, 2020.
22 Q. Do you recognize the content of this E-mail?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Specifically, it's redacted here, but under receiver
25 address, the name, address, phone number and E-mail address,
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 9 of 69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 do you recognize who that is referring to?
2 A. Yes. The name, E-mail address, phone number listed
3 there is Victim 1.
4 Q. And is the time or the date contemporaneous with the
5 time of the communications with Victim 1 that we talked about
6 last time?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. And then the other information listed on there, Hector
9 Cantu, address, number, E-mail, do you recognize those?
10 A. Hector Cantu is the alias for the individual
11 communicating with Victim 1.
12 Q. Based on these things that we went over today, do you
13 have any opinion on whether the user of unitedpetsafe2009 and
14 the user of fodjebobga1 were the same person?
15 A. Yes. In my opinion they're the same person.
16 Q. And that's the Defendant here?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Now let's go to Government Exhibit 11C as in Charlie.
19 Do you recognize this document?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. How do you recognize it?
22 A. This is an E-mail from unitedpetsafe2009 gmail to
23 Victim 3 describing the shippers for the puppy.
24 Q. And what was the date of this E-mail?
25 A. March 29, 2019.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 10 of10
69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 Q. Did the FBI interview Victim 3 at any point?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Approximately when was that?
4 A. Victim 3 was interviewed on March 31, 2020, and
5 April 1 of 2020.
6 Q. Can you briefly summarize what Victim 3 told the
7 interviewing agent?
8 A. In March Victim 3 was looking to purchase a teacup
9 Chihuahua puppy in March of 2019. Victim 3 was contacted by
10 E-mail and instructed to send $600 via Moneygram. The $600
11 was sent. No puppy was received.
12 MS. LEVIN: Your Honor, at this point if Agent
13 Boling is reading from something, I would ask her to identify
14 that and --
15 THE WITNESS: It's the 302 from the case agent.
16 MS. LEVIN: And identify the specific document and
17 the specific date; and if it's already been provided to me in
18 discovery, that's fine, but I need to know what the document
19 is.
20 THE COURT: Agent Boling, could you describe the
21 document that you are referencing?
22 THE WITNESS: Yes. It's an FBI 302 written by the
23 case agent. It was -- the date of entry was April 2, 2020.
24 BY MR. XIANG:
25 Q. And the serial number?
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 11 of11
69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 A. It should be -- let's see what the serial --
2 MR. XIANG: Ms. Levin, the --
3 A. I don't have the serial numbers on the printout.
4 THE COURT: Ms. Levin, do you have --
5 MR. XIANG: It was provided to you --
6 MS. LEVIN: I have many documents, Your Honor. I
7 would like to somehow identify this specific one.
8 THE COURT: Of course.
9 MS. LEVIN: I trust Government counsel's
10 representation that that's been provided to me.
11 THE COURT: Okay. Thank you. You can proceed.
12 BY MR. XIANG:
13 Q. Staying on 11C, let's go to the second to the last
14 page.
15 MS. MAHER: Do you have a page number? I could
16 look for the page numbers for this exhibit.
17 MR. XIANG: 10.
18 THE COURT: Is this the document with the Supreme
19 Court at the heading?
20 MR. XIANG: Yes, Your Honor. So I guess one
21 page -- one more page over. Yes.
22 And Ms. Levin, so you have it, it's Serial Number 2
23 and 3 relating to Victim 3.
24 BY MR. XIANG:
25 Q. Special Agent Boling, is this an attachment to the
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 12 of12
69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 E-mail we just talked about?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. Does this list Victim 3's information?
4 A. Yes.
5 MR. XIANG: We won't read this document, but down
6 at the bottom right-hand corner, could we just highlight the
7 bottom half? Thank you.
8 Q. Where it says William K. Suter, Clerk of the Supreme
9 Court of the United States, did the FBI look into William K.
10 Suter?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. What, if anything, did you find about him?
13 A. William K. Suter was the 19th Clerk of the Supreme
14 Court, and he retired in 2013.
15 Q. What was the source of that information?
16 A. Google.
17 Q. And particularly what was the source that was found on
18 Google?
19 A. I don't recall.
20 Q. Do you have the criminal complaint?
21 A. Yeah.
22 Q. Can you read Paragraph 35 of the affidavit --
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And if that refreshes your memory, feel free to answer
25 the question.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 13 of13
69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 A. Yes. The official website of the Supreme Court.
2 Q. And one last thing on 11C, if we can go back to page
3 9, do you see the telephone number listed in the signature
4 there?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Ending 0347?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. Do you recognize that from any of the Google accounts
9 that we've talked about?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Let's pull up Government Exhibit 4B as in boy. Do you
12 recognize this document?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. What is this?
15 A. This is the data as returned by Google on the warrant
16 for the 8514 Google Voice number.
17 Q. Is this an excerpt of communications?
18 A. Yes. It's an excerpt of communications with Google
19 Voice number 8514 and Victim 4.
20 Q. Is the 0347 number on here as well?
21 A. Yes. So this is a group message that's shown in
22 Column B with the 8514 number and the 0347 number.
23 Q. Specifically is that in line 4996?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. Did Victim 4 explain to the FBI what happened here?
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 14 of14
69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 A. Yes. Victim 4 attempted to --
2 THE COURT REPORTER: Excuse me. There's
3 background noise, and I'm having trouble filtering that out
4 when the agent is speaking.
5 THE COURT: Please repeat that, Agent.
6 A. Yes. Victim 4 brought together a group text chat
7 between the 8514 number and the 0347 number, the former being
8 the seller-breeder and the latter being transport service in
9 an effort to resolve the issues that they were having.
10 Q. So according to Victim 4, the 0347 number was the
11 shipper for the puppy?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And let's go to Government Exhibit 9C as in Charlie.
14 What does this exhibit show?
15 A. This is data again returned by Google in response to
16 the 8514 communications with 0347.
17 THE COURT: Agent, you broke up on that last
18 response. So I wonder if you could repeat your answer, and
19 I'm going to ask you to just make sure that you're close to
20 your audio feed so that we can hear you.
21 THE WITNESS: Yes, Your Honor.
22 THE COURT: Thank you.
23 A. This is the data returned by Google for a search
24 warrant for the 8514 Google Voice number. This is an excerpt
25 of communications between 8514 and 0347.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 15 of15
69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 Q. So in Column C, the two types -- can you explain what
2 inbound refers to?
3 A. Inbound refers to an inbound voice call.
4 Q. And so here, the one inbound call in Column D, what is
5 the duration? What was the duration for that?
6 A. 33 seconds.
7 Q. And there were four other columns -- I'm sorry -- four
8 other rows of data here?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. Showing what?
11 A. Missed calls between the two parties.
12 Q. Let's go back to Victim 3. In Government Exhibit 3B,
13 can we pull that up, B as in boy? Agent Boling, do you
14 recognize this document?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. What is this?
17 A. This was returned by Moneygram showing the payment
18 sent by Victim 3.
19 Q. The $600 payment that you mentioned before?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. Just so we can locate this on page 2, is this the
22 identifying information here for Victim 3 as the sender?
23 A. Yes, it is.
24 Q. Let's go to page 3. What is the information that's
25 shown on this page?
Exhibit G
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69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 A. This shows the location from where the payment was
2 sent by Victim 3 and the date and the amount.
3 Q. And then page 5, what's shown on here?
4 A. This is where --
5 Q. Sorry. Starting from Column BG and going right.
6 A. This is where the money was received.
7 Q. So to summarize, this particular transaction went from
8 Indiana, Pennsylvania, to Baltimore, Maryland, according to
9 the exhibit?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And lastly, Government Exhibit 3A as in Adam, do you
12 recognize this document?
13 A. Yes. This is data returned from Google in a response
14 to a search warrant for the 4502 Google Voice number. This
15 is an excerpt of communication between that voice number and
16 Victim 3.
17 Q. And here there were no written communications; is that
18 right, that's shown in the exhibit?
19 A. Correct.
20 Q. Let's go to Exhibit 5A as in Adam. Do you recognize
21 this?
22 A. Yes. Again, this is data returned by Google for a
23 search warrant of the 4502 Google Voice number. This is an
24 excerpt of communications between 4502 and Victim 5.
25 MS. LEVIN: I'm sorry. I didn't hear that last
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 17 of17
69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 part.
2 THE COURT: Would you repeat your answer, please?
3 THE WITNESS: Yes, Your Honor.
4 A. It's the data returned by Google in response to the
5 search warrant for Google Voice number 4502. This exhibit
6 shows the excerpt of that data for Google Voice number 4502
7 and communication with Victim 5.
8 THE COURT: Thank you.
9 Q. We won't go over all of the messages, just like with
10 the other victim. So I'll direct you first to line 10719.
11 A. Okay.
12 Q. What's on here?
13 A. This is an outgoing message from 4502 to Victim 5 on
14 April 24, 2019. And it is the Moneygram information to
15 transfer $600.
16 Q. Let's go down to the bottom of that page. Was that
17 sent and received, the payment?
18 A. Yes. 4502 sent an outbound message that same day
19 saying, "Perfect. I got it."
20 Q. And just so we have it in 10642, what city and state
21 does Victim 5 say she's in? It's redacted on the screen, but
22 in the original?
23 A. Cheswick, Pennsylvania.
24 Q. Now let's go to line 10968. This is another request
25 for a $600 Moneygram payment.
Exhibit G
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69
A. BOLING - DIRECT
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. And then in the middle of that page, 10986?
3 A. That is Victim 5 sending a message to 4502 stating "I
4 just sent it to you, have it, did you get it."
5 Q. Any response?
6 A. 4502 responds with an outbound message saying "Yes
7 perfect I got it."
8 MR. XIANG: And if we could just highlight these
9 next two rows.
10 MS. LEVIN: Your Honor, I certainly appreciate
11 Government's counsel going through everything very carefully,
12 but in the interests of time, I'm wondering whether at this
13 point, you know, it might make sense to focus specifically on
14 connections to Mr. Bobga. I've heard a lot of information
15 now about a transfer to Virginia. I'm just hoping we can
16 streamline a little bit.
17 MR. XIANG: Sure.
18 THE COURT: Yeah. Why don't we do this? Certainly
19 you can ask the agent to summarize what happened with respect
20 to Victim 5, for example, and then move on to other matters
21 you want to cover.
22 I think that this exhibit reflects the
23 communications. She can testify about a summary of those
24 communications, and perhaps we can avoid getting into the
25 detail of each communication that is reflected in these
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 19 of19
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 documents.
2 MR. XIANG: Yes, Your Honor.
3 Q. So Agent Boling, did the FBI interview Victim 5 at any
4 point?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. Approximately when was that?
7 A. That was on May 28, 2020.
8 Q. Did Victim 5 confirm making the two Moneygram payments
9 that we discussed --
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. -- in the messages?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. And according to Victim 5, did she receive any puppy
14 or any refund?
15 A. No.
16 MR. XIANG: Your Honor, I do not have any further
17 questions for Special Agent Boling at this time.
18 THE COURT: All right. Then, Ms. Levin, you may
19 cross-examine.
20 MS. LEVIN: Okay. Thank you. Can we take down the
21 screen share? Thank you. Now I can see everybody.
22 CROSS-EXAMINATION
23 BY MS. LEVIN:
24 Q. Hi, Agent Boling. Good morning. You said that you
25 took over as case agent in April of 2021?
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 20 of20
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 A. Correct.
2 Q. And I take it you've reviewed a number of documents in
3 this case?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. Did you conduct any interviews yourself in this case?
6 A. No.
7 Q. So any opinions that you gave today are consistent
8 with your review of documents? Is that fair?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. And not based on any independent knowledge you have
11 beyond those documents?
12 A. No.
13 Q. And you're not testifying today here as an expert;
14 correct?
15 A. No.
16 Q. It's a little confusing when you say no and I say
17 correct for the court reporter. So --
18 A. Apologies.
19 Q. So is it correct that you're not here testifying today
20 as an expert?
21 A. Correct. Yes.
22 Q. And any opinions you give today are just based on your
23 review of the documents presented in Court?
24 A. Yes. Correct.
25 Q. Do you have a sense of how many different people
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 21 of21
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 participated in the conspiracy that's charged here today?
2 A. In my opinion I'd approximate two, maybe three.
3 Q. And what are the locations of those other individuals
4 or the -- as best as you know?
5 A. As best as I know, I would identify Romania and
6 Cameroon.
7 Q. So an additional participant -- and Romania and
8 Cameroon are the individuals in addition to Mr. Bobga? Is
9 that correct?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And did you review documents that contained
12 communication between any of those other individuals and
13 Mr. Bobga?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Okay. So no E-mails between them?
16 A. No, not from my review.
17 Q. And no phone calls or text messages between them?
18 A. The only phone calls were reviewed in the exhibit
19 between the 8514 Voice number and the 0347 Voice number,
20 which I don't have any indication of what those
21 communications consisted of.
22 Q. What's your -- we were just looking at those
23 communications. And let me see if I can go back to them.
24 That was I believe in Exhibit 4B.
25 MS. LEVIN: And can I ask the Court for permission
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 22 of22
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 to share my screen?
2 THE COURT: Of course. Mr. Banas, if you can
3 assist us with that?
4 MR. BANAS: I've just made Miss Levin a co-host.
5 THE COURT: Thank you.
6 MS. LEVIN: Thank you. But it still says I can't.
7 While we figure it out in the background, I can ask a
8 different question.
9 THE COURT: Okay.
10 BY MS. LEVIN:
11 Q. Agent Boling, you testified on direct examination
12 about a number of communications in Exhibit 4B between the
13 8514 Google Voice number and the 0347 Google Voice number.
14 Do you remember that testimony?
15 A. Yes, in reference to Exhibit 4B.
16 Q. In reference to Exhibit 4B, correct. Did you review
17 IP data for either of those two Google Voice users at the
18 time of those communications?
19 A. I did not.
20 Q. Are you aware of whether IP data exists for either
21 8514 or 0347 during the time of those communications?
22 A. Not to my knowledge at this point in time.
23 Q. And you talked about you're familiar with how Google
24 Voice works; correct?
25 A. Yes.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 23 of23
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 Q. And in your work, you investigate Google Voice users?
2 Is that fair?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And are you familiar with Google Voice being an
5 Internet based phone number?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And that phone number can be accessed from anywhere in
8 the world?
9 A. Yes.
10 Q. What is your understanding of -- strike that. I'll
11 rephrase. Mr. Bobga at the time of extradition was located
12 in Romania; correct?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And that's where he was a student?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And before then it's your understanding that he was in
17 Cameroon?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Are you aware of any other travel by Mr. Bobga?
20 A. No.
21 Q. And is it your opinion based on your review of
22 documents that he did not travel to any other country?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Meaning -- of course then he did not travel to the
25 United States?
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 24 of24
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 A. Based on my review, I have no knowledge of any other
2 travel.
3 Q. Okay. And on direct testimony you testified about a
4 number of wire transfers, including transfers I believe
5 through Victim 3 to the United States; correct?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And I believe Victim 3 was to Maryland; is that right?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And there were other transfers of money to the two
10 locations in the United States; is that correct?
11 A. I don't recall.
12 Q. Did you review any wire transfers from the locations
13 in the United States where victims were told to send money to
14 any other country?
15 A. Yes. Victim 1 directed wire transfers from Western
16 Union to Romania.
17 Q. So my question -- let's go to Victim 3. You testified
18 that Victim 3 was told to send money to Maryland; correct?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. Did you review any wire transfers of money from
21 Maryland to any other country in connection with your
22 investigation?
23 A. No.
24 Q. Did you review bank records for Mr. Bobga?
25 A. Not to my knowledge, no.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 25 of25
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 Q. Do you mean that the FBI to your knowledge does not
2 have bank records for Mr. Bobga?
3 A. Correct.
4 Q. Based on your review of documents, your understanding
5 is the money that was sent to Maryland, that's the end of
6 your knowledge about that money; correct?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. So is it fair to say based on that that there's an
9 additional participant in the scheme located in Maryland?
10 A. Yes. It's likely.
11 Q. And would that be true for any other places where
12 victims were told to send money in the United States?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. So then there are some number of additional
15 participants in the scheme located in the United States? Is
16 that fair?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. Okay. And you testified on direct examination that an
19 IP address identified some kind of geographic location. Is
20 that fair?
21 A. Yes.
22 Q. And that location is associated with where that
23 account was accessed at a certain point in time? Is that
24 fair?
25 A. Yes.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 26 of26
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 Q. And when an IP address -- when you testified that a
2 certain IP address is connected to somewhere in Romania,
3 what's your sense of how specific -- or let me rephrase that
4 question.
5 When you testified on direct examination about IP
6 addresses being connected to Romania, based on your review of
7 the documents, what's your understanding of those locations
8 in Romania? How specific is that address?
9 A. I can't give an opinion on the exact location of where
10 service providers' towers are or in what geographic precision
11 it is to where the account is accessed from. But when an IP
12 address in the vicinity of a tower hits that connection, it
13 gives a fairly precise location of a geographic area of where
14 the account was accessed.
15 Q. And by fairly precise, for the IP addresses that you
16 testified about on direct examination going back to Romania,
17 what's your understanding sitting here today of those exact
18 locations?
19 A. One of the IP addresses came back to the Babes-Borlya
20 University.
21 Q. Okay. But beyond it being associated with the
22 university specifically, you don't have further information?
23 Is that fair?
24 A. No. That is fair, yes.
25 Q. And for IP addresses that are associated then with a
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 27 of27
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 location in Cameroon, what's your understanding of the
2 specificity of those exact locations?
3 A. I don't recall. I recall looking at the location of
4 the IP addresses in Cameroon, but I can't recall to the
5 specificity of where.
6 Q. Are you aware of any locations in Cameroon being tied
7 specifically by -- specifically to Mr. Bobga in one way or
8 another?
9 A. Is it okay if I look at the affidavit?
10 Q. Sure. And if you want to look at -- if you're
11 referring to a particular paragraph, just let me know what
12 paragraph.
13 A. Sure. So Paragraph 39, specifically the last sentence
14 prior to E relating to Victim 4. On or about October 12,
15 2019 all three E-mail accounts, fodjebobga1, joebah77, and
16 unitedpetsafe were accessed at the same time from the same IP
17 address, which, based on an IP address lookup, is assigned to
18 a Cameroonian telecommunications provider.
19 Q. Got it. But beyond that information, you're not aware
20 of any other specificity as to the exact address? Is that
21 fair?
22 A. Yes. That's fair.
23 MS. LEVIN: Let's see if I can share my screen now.
24 THE COURT: Let me now know if you can't.
25 MS. LEVIN: I still can't do it, and I remember
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 28 of28
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 this happened to us on one other occasion, and didn't we have
2 to end the entire session and then start again?
3 THE COURT: I think so, but what I'm going to ask
4 is whether the Government would be willing to share their
5 screen just so that we don't have delays associated with
6 what's probably an issue that we'll never figure out how to
7 solve.
8 MS. MAHER: Your Honor, I would be fine sharing the
9 exhibits with the defense.
10 THE COURT: Thank you very much. We appreciate
11 that. What exhibit would you like to share, Ms. Levin?
12 MS. LEVIN: I'll go through, but I won't ask you to
13 do anything fancy like compare or blow things up. Can we
14 please see Exhibit 8A?
15 BY MS. LEVIN:
16 Q. So Agent Boling, if we scroll to page 15, the very end
17 of Exhibit 8A, is it fair to say that this exhibit represents
18 IP logins for the fodjebobga E-mail address going back to
19 July of 2019?
20 A. Yes. That's correct.
21 Q. And is your understanding that these are all of the
22 logins for this particular E-mail address for this particular
23 period of time?
24 A. Yes.
25 Q. And that's what Google provided to the Government? Is
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 29 of29
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 that fair?
2 A. Yes.
3 Q. And it also says that the E-mail address was created
4 in 2014. That's on page 1?
5 A. Yes.
6 Q. And did agents ask for IP address information from the
7 time of creation or only for this specific moment in time
8 that's captured here?
9 A. I don't know.
10 Q. You weren't the case agent back then; right?
11 A. Right.
12 Q. Okay. Turning to Exhibit 9A, please? So this is IP
13 address information for the joebah E-mail address? Is that
14 fair?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. And it shows that that E-mail account was created in
17 2009?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Is that right? And that E-mail address, I'd like you
20 to turn, please, to page 4. And do you see the IP address on
21 December 23, 2019, that begins with 104?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. I take it you don't have an independent memory of
24 where that IP address resolves to? Is that fair?
25 A. Fair.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 30 of30
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 Q. And is it also fair that one can look this information
2 up easily in terms of where an IP address resolves to, to a
3 specific geographic location?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. So would it refresh your recollection -- and I can put
6 this up on the screen to show you that this IP address
7 resolves to a location in the United States?
8 THE COURT: Were you done with your question, Ms.
9 Levin?
10 MS. LEVIN: I was.
11 A. What was the question, ma'am? I'm sorry.
12 Q. Did you at any point in time research where the 104 IP
13 address goes to?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Okay. And would it -- you know, by using -- I don't
16 know if you're able to access it right now on your end, but
17 if you're able to put this IP address into your computer --
18 A. Okay.
19 Q. And you can do this to check me, but, you know, when I
20 did this, it resolved to an IP address in the United States.
21 A. Okay.
22 Q. Is that anything that you learned through your review
23 of documents in this case?
24 A. No.
25 Q. Okay. And then if we go to page 8 of this same
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 31 of31
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 document, and I'm looking at -- I'd like to direct your
2 attention to September 12, 2019. Do you see the IP address
3 there that begins with 202?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. And did you at any point in time research where that
6 IP address resolves to?
7 A. No.
8 Q. And so you didn't see that that IP address resolves to
9 Bangladesh?
10 A. No.
11 Q. Looking at page 10 of this document, did you see the
12 IP addresses there that begin with 2001 and then a lot of
13 numbers and letters after that?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. What's your understanding of what this IP address
16 represents?
17 A. It looks to me like an IPv6 address.
18 Q. What is that?
19 A. It's just a longer version of an IPv4 IP address.
20 Q. And when is that used in comparison to the other types
21 of IP addresses that we've looked at?
22 A. Looking in respect to this document, it looks like
23 it's used earlier in the account logons. So in 2019.
24 Q. Does it indicate any different type of technology
25 being used as opposed to the type of IP address location
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 32 of32
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 access that you testified about on direct examination?
2 A. Can you repeat the question?
3 Q. Does it indicate any different type of technology
4 being used for -- does it have any significance to you in
5 terms of how the login at that point in time might have
6 occurred?
7 A. It could represent a different piece of technology. I
8 know from my training, you can turn on your IPv6 to go from
9 IPv4 to IPv6 on the same device. But outside of that
10 knowledge, I don't know.
11 Q. Okay. And also in this particular document is it fair
12 to say that there are a number of failed logins from -- you
13 know, at least I'm counting three or four in more different
14 IP addresses? Is that fair?
15 A. Yes. For page 10, I'm seeing four.
16 Q. Got it. And including in the year 2020. So that
17 would be on pages 2 and 3? There are failed logins from
18 various IP addresses?
19 A. Yes.
20 Q. And did you research where any of those failed logins
21 were attempted from?
22 A. No.
23 Q. Okay. You testified on direct examination that you
24 reviewed --
25 THE WITNESS: Sorry to interrupt, Ms. Levin. What
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 33 of33
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 was the first IP address we reviewed from that exhibit?
2 Q. So I'm going to let Government counsel ask you that in
3 redirect, but for now I'm going to move on with my
4 cross-examination.
5 A. Okay.
6 MS. LEVIN: Can we take down the screen sharing for
7 a moment? Thank you for doing that.
8 Q. You testified on direct examination that you reviewed
9 information for the Google Voice number ending in 8514?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. And you testified a few minutes ago that you did not
12 review any location information associated with that Voice
13 number? Fair?
14 A. Fair.
15 Q. And did you review whether any other E-mail addresses
16 were associated with the 8514 Voice number?
17 A. No.
18 Q. Did you review any documents suggesting that any --
19 that there were more than one user of the Google Voice number
20 ending in 8514?
21 A. I believe from my recollection, the Google Voice
22 number ending in 8514 corresponds to the joebah77 gmail
23 account. And the recovery E-mail for that is fodjebobga1.
24 Q. So any time a user uses the Google Voice number, does
25 the user have to be logged in to a certain E-mail account, or
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 34 of34
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 can the user just make a phone call through their voicemail?
2 A. You have to be logged in to your account.
3 Q. Okay. So a user could be logged in to the joeba
4 E-mail account and make a phone call with the 8514 number?
5 Is that fair?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. Okay. Could we look at Exhibit 8I, please? And
8 Agent, do you remember testifying about this exhibit on
9 direct examination?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. Do you also have access to an unredacted version of
12 this exhibit?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. And do you remember testifying that there are
15 additional students listed in Romania under the name Fodje
16 Bobga under that version of Exhibit 8I? Is that fair?
17 A. There is a Fodje Bobga listed, yes.
18 Q. And in the redacted portion of that E-mail, there are
19 also additional students located in Romania? Is that fair?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And some of those students also received money
22 associated with the fraud scheme charged? Is that fair?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And I believe that two of those individuals are people
25 who Victim 1 was directed to send money to. Is that fair?
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 35 of35
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. And that's what's shown I believe in Exhibit 1 -- you
3 don't have to refer to them now, but Exhibit 1A?
4 A. Yes.
5 MS. LEVIN: And can we please actually pull up
6 Exhibit 1A? Thank you. And can we go to line 8086? I
7 believe it's on page 29.
8 Q. And when we see the person in line 8086, is it fair
9 that that's another individual in Romania to whom Victim 1
10 was directed to send money?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And that individual with the first name Giddeon, that
13 individual is not listed as a student in Exhibit 8I. Is that
14 fair?
15 A. Yes.
16 Q. So we've now talked about two students in Exhibit 8I
17 who received money in Romania and at least one additional
18 person identified in line 8086 of Exhibit 1A in Romania who
19 has received money. Is that fair?
20 A. Yes.
21 MS. LEVIN: You can take this exhibit down, please.
22 Q. Did you review any documents suggesting a transfer of
23 funds from any of those three individuals to Mr. Bobga?
24 A. No.
25 Q. So would that suggest that there are at least those
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 36 of36
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 three additional participants in the scheme in addition to
2 Mr. Bobga?
3 A. Yes.
4 MS. LEVIN: And can we pull up Exhibit 2B, please?
5 Q. If we scroll -- the Exhibit 2B represents Victim 2
6 sending money in March 2020? Is that fair?
7 A. Yes.
8 MS. LEVIN: And if we scroll over to the recipient
9 information, I believe it's on pages 6 of 7. Can we go back
10 one -- I'll pull it up on my end.
11 Q. If you look at pages 3 and 4, so I believe you
12 testified on direct that this represents two transfers to a
13 Desmond Bobga; is that fair?
14 A. Yes. The payee name and the address for where the
15 payment was to be sent.
16 Q. And those are on successive days; right? First
17 March 12, 2020, then March 13 in Column Y?
18 A. Yes.
19 Q. Okay. So then if you go to page 4 in Column AE, is it
20 your understanding that the money is going one day to
21 Cameroon and the next day to Romania?
22 A. The opposite. So one day to Romania. The next day to
23 Cameroon.
24 Q. Okay. Thank you. And it's your understanding that
25 Mr. Bobga was located in Romania at that time; is that right?
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 37 of37
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 A. Yes.
2 Q. Did you review any bank account or money transfer
3 information suggesting that any money was sent from Cameroon
4 to Romania to him?
5 A. No.
6 Q. So this suggests to you then that somebody was on the
7 receiving end of that transfer to Cameroon? Is that fair?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. And it's somebody who's not Mr. Bobga; is that right?
10 A. Yes.
11 Q. So you testified on direct examination turning to
12 Counts 11 and 12.
13 MS. LEVIN: You can take that down. Thank you.
14 Can we pull up Exhibit 11C again, please?
15 Q. And this is an E-mail on March 29, 2019, from
16 unitedpetsafe? Is that fair?
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And if we look at the subscriber information from
19 unitedpetsafe -- and I'll remind myself what that Exhibit
20 number is. Maybe 9C?
21 A. 11A.
22 Q. Thank you. If you look at Exhibit 11A, is there any
23 IP address information for the date that this Moneygram was
24 sent in March 2019?
25 A. No.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 38 of38
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 Q. So do agents have any information about the location
2 of the individual who sent an E-mail from that E-mail address
3 in March of 2019?
4 A. No.
5 Q. And the money in March of 2019 was sent to a person
6 located in Maryland; is that right? And I believe -- if you
7 need reference, I believe it's in Exhibit 3B, page 5.
8 A. Yes. That's correct.
9 MS. LEVIN: You can take down the document. Thank
10 you.
11 Q. For the attachment that you talked about that's the
12 subject of those last two counts, did you review any
13 information suggesting where that document was created?
14 A. Can you reference the attachment again, please?
15 Q. Oh, sure, if we can bring it back up. Exhibit 9 --
16 no. The one that we were just looking at.
17 A. 11? 11C?
18 Q. Yes. Thank you. And I believe it's the last -- page
19 10 of that. So on page 10, did you review any information
20 suggesting where that document was created?
21 A. No.
22 Q. Did you review any information suggesting that that
23 document was located anywhere other than within that E-mail
24 account?
25 A. No.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 39 of39
69
A. BOLING - CROSS
1 MS. LEVIN: Okay. We can take that back down. You
2 can take down the screen share, please.
3 Q. Agent Boling, from your review of documents, do you
4 have an understanding of how much money the Government
5 believes Mr. Bobga has personally received?
6 A. Personally, no.
7 Q. And do you have any understanding beyond what's listed
8 in the affidavit of how much money Mr. Bobga personally
9 received?
10 A. No.
11 Q. And obviously supplemented by any testimony today?
12 A. No.
13 MS. LEVIN: Your Honor, if I could have just one
14 minute to confer with Mr. Bobga, I think I might be ready to
15 conclude.
16 THE COURT: Of course. Mr. Banas, could you place
17 Mr. Bobga and Ms. Levin in a breakout room? And why don't we
18 take -- is five minutes enough, or would you like a little
19 bit longer?
20 MS. LEVIN: I think that can work.
21 THE COURT: Okay. We'll take a five-minute break
22 for that discussion. So we'll be back here at approximately
23 10:26 or so.
24 MS. LEVIN: Thank you.
25 MR. BANAS: Excellent.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 40 of40
69
A. BOLING - REDIRECT
1 (A recess was taken at 10:21 a.m. while Defendant
2 and defense counsel conferred in a private breakout room.)
3 (10:29 a.m.; Zoom videoconference continued:)
4 THE COURT: All right. Ms. Levin, are you prepared
5 to resume?
6 MS. LEVIN: Thank you, Your Honor. I believe maybe
7 just two more questions, and then I'll be finished.
8 BY MS. LEVIN:
9 Q. Agent Boling, you can still hear me; right?
10 A. Yes. I can hear you.
11 Q. Okay. Great. Did you review any voice recording
12 information in connection with your investigation in this
13 case?
14 A. No.
15 Q. Did you review any evidence relating to who picked up
16 any of the wire transfers that you've testified about in this
17 case?
18 A. No.
19 MS. LEVIN: Okay. I have nothing further for Agent
20 Boling. Thank you, Your Honor.
21 THE COURT: Thank you, Ms. Levin. Mr. Xiang,
22 anything further from you on redirect?
23 MR. XIANG: Yes, Your Honor. Just two quick things
24 -- or one quick and one maybe not.
25 REDIRECT EXAMINATION
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 41 of41
69
A. BOLING - REDIRECT
1 BY MR. XIANG:
2 Q. The first is, Special Agent Boling, you asked about
3 the IP address that Ms. Levin brought up, the 104 IP address?
4 A. Yes.
5 Q. What do you want to say about that?
6 A. I just wanted it for -- to mark it, to look up on my
7 own time.
8 Q. Okay. All right. And the second thing, which is what
9 she ended on about who picked up the payments. Let's go to
10 Exhibit 2B as in boy. And let's go to page 6 and 7, pages 6
11 and 7.
12 On cross, Ms. Levin asked you about the two
13 particular Western Union transfers from Victim 1. Do you
14 remember that?
15 A. Is this Victim --
16 Q. I'm sorry. From Victim 2.
17 A. Yes.
18 Q. And she asked you about whether the payments were
19 directed to Cameroon or Romania. Do you remember that?
20 A. Yes.
21 Q. And you testified that one was to Cameroon and one was
22 to Romania. Do you remember that?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. Can you explain what's on pages 6 and 7 of this
25 Western Union record for Victim 2?
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 42 of42
69
A. BOLING - REDIRECT
1 A. Yes. Page 6, these columns represent starting with
2 Column AS, the send agent's country code --
3 THE COURT: Excuse me. The send agent's what? I
4 missed that last word.
5 THE WITNESS: Country code.
6 THE COURT: Thank you.
7 A. Column AT is the pay agent's name. Column AU is the
8 pay agent's street address. Column AV is the pay agent's
9 city. And Column AX is the pay agent's ZIP.
10 Q. And page 7?
11 A. Page 7, the pay agent province, Column AY. AZ is the
12 pay agent country, RO, both standing for Romania. And the
13 rest, Column BB is Victim 2.
14 Q. So where was the pay agent for the two Victim 2
15 Western Union transfers located?
16 A. Romania.
17 Q. So not Cameroon?
18 A. Correct.
19 Q. And what is the pay agent for purposes of the Western
20 Union wire transfer?
21 A. The pay agent is the individual that is paid at the
22 location and picks up the money that was wired.
23 Q. Is that the Western Union agent paying out the money
24 or the person who's actually receiving the money?
25 A. It's the Western Union paying out.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 43 of43
69
A. BOLING - REDIRECT
1 Q. Okay. So for these two Victim 2 transfers, the money
2 was paid out in what country?
3 A. Romania.
4 Q. Now let's go back to pages 3 and 4. In Column V as in
5 Victor, that name, Desmond Fodje Bobga is what relation to
6 the receipt of the Western Union payment?
7 A. The Column B represents the payee name provided by the
8 payee.
9 Q. Let's go to Column AD. It says Pid number. Do you
10 see that?
11 A. Yes.
12 Q. And the I.D. number in Row 17, the number ending --
13 well, there's an entry ending in 864425; correct?
14 A. Yes.
15 Q. And let's flip over one page. The next two columns --
16 or the next four columns, the address in Column AF says
17 Yaounde, and then it also says Cameroon; correct, the next
18 two columns?
19 A. Yes. AE and AF.
20 MR. XIANG: Can we pull up side by side if we
21 can -- actually we don't need side by side -- 12B as in boy.
22 And can we expand on the right half, bottom right half?
23 Q. Let's look up at the top corner there. Do you see
24 that passport number?
25 A. Yes.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 44 of44
69
A. BOLING - REDIRECT
1 Q. Is that the same number that's on the Western Union
2 record for the payee?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And then the address that's in the middle, do you see
5 that, Yaounde?
6 A. Yes.
7 Q. And this is the Defendant's Cameroonian passport?
8 A. Yes.
9 Q. So do the passport I.D. number and the address for the
10 Defendant here match the payee information for that Western
11 Union transfer that we just talked about?
12 A. Yes.
13 Q. Now, let's go back to -- well, we could stay on this
14 exhibit, but go to the top left, the I.D. code, the card. Do
15 you see the line that ends in 615?
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. Okay. Just make a mental note of that.
18 A. Uh-huh.
19 Q. Now can we flip to 12C as in Charlie, so the front
20 half of that card. And then did you note the number that's
21 on the top corner there ending in 575270?
22 A. Yes.
23 Q. Just keep that in mind. Now let's go back to the 2B
24 as in boy and pages 3 and 4. And we'll stop there.
25 So the second row, which is numbered 18, the Pid
Exhibit G
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1 number, 575270, is that the same number on the card we saw
2 for -- from the Defendant's extradition paperwork?
3 A. Yes.
4 Q. And then lastly, go to the next page. That address
5 ending in 615, is that the same address that's shown on the
6 I.D. card?
7 A. Yes.
8 Q. So the actual receiver of the two payments from Victim
9 2, who is that?
10 A. That would be Desmond Fodje Bobga in Romania.
11 MR. XIANG: In Romania. All right. No other
12 questions, Your Honor.
13 THE COURT: Ms. Levin, anything further?
14 MS. LEVIN: Only one, Your Honor.
15 RECROSS-EXAMINATION
16 BY MS. LEVIN:
17 Q. Agent Boling, is there sometimes in your review of
18 Western Union records or Moneygram records, can a payee
19 information ever be different than the person who actually
20 picks up that money?
21 A. No.
22 Q. So the payee always, 100 percent of the time, is the
23 person who picks it up?
24 A. Yes.
25 MS. LEVIN: Okay. Nothing further, Your Honor.
Exhibit G
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69
1 THE COURT: Thank you. Agent, thank you for your
2 testimony both today and the last time we were in this
3 proceeding. As a witness, you may certainly continue to
4 participate in this video conference hearing.
5 Is there any other testimony or evidence that you
6 need to present, Mr. Xiang?
7 MR. XIANG: No other testimony, Your Honor. I
8 think just for housekeeping purposes, I think we had all of
9 the exhibits in evidence I listed on the list. I just want
10 to confirm for the record that these are quote, unquote, in
11 evidence or at least on the record for Your Honor's
12 consideration.
13 THE COURT: Are you suggesting that everything on
14 your exhibit list that was provided to me has been used
15 during this proceeding?
16 MR. XIANG: Yes, Your Honor. The only -- Exhibit
17 8H as in Henry, we addressed it but didn't quite use it. I
18 think for purposes of moving them in to be considered, I'll
19 just move them all in --
20 MS. LEVIN: Your Honor, I don't have any objection.
21 THE COURT: All right. Then with that, I am going
22 to admit all of the exhibits that were used during the
23 hearing, which includes those on the exhibit list that was
24 provided to me and counsel in advance of this proceeding here
25 today. Anything else, Mr. Xiang, in terms of evidence?
Exhibit G
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69
1 MR. XIANG: Your Honor, just that the exhibits that
2 are marked subject to protective order will be sealed to the
3 extent any of these will be public, and that only the
4 versions that are redacted marked with an R will be publicly
5 available.
6 THE COURT: Understood. And I agree with that.
7 Ms. Levin, is there any testimony or evidence that
8 you intend to present here today?
9 MS. LEVIN: Just argument, Your Honor.
10 THE COURT: All right. Then let's proceed with
11 argument. And Mr. Xiang, let's start with you.
12 MR. XIANG: Your Honor, for this hearing, the
13 Government's burden here is to establish probable cause to
14 believe that a crime was committed and that the Defendant
15 committed it. And we've shown a PC --
16 THE COURT: Just a moment, if you would.
17 Mr. Banas, I wonder if you can -- thank you. You read my
18 mind. All right. Go ahead. Sorry for the interruption.
19 MR. XIANG: The finding of PC can be supported by
20 direct or circumstantial evidence and the reasonable
21 inferences that can be drawn from both types of evidence.
22 In a circumstantial case, the inference that
23 supports a finding of PC does not need to be the only
24 possible inference, and nor must the Government foreclose
25 every possible innocent explanation. That's true even after
Exhibit G
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69
1 a trial to a jury, and it certainly would be true here for a
2 preliminary hearing.
3 We have strong -- we presented strong
4 circumstantial proof that both crimes were committed and that
5 this Defendant committed them.
6 The crux of the 12 offenses that are charged in the
7 criminal Complaint is the puppy scam that fosters hiding
8 behind the relative anonymity of the Internet in a scheme to
9 deceive consumers into paying hundreds to thousands of
10 dollars each with a purchase and delivery of nonexistent
11 puppies.
12 And although that is a bit of a negative, that
13 there were no puppies to sell or deliver and no intention to
14 sell or deliver these nonexistent puppies at the time that
15 the fraudster was trailing along the customers for money, we
16 have more than sufficient evidence to support an inference of
17 that fact.
18 And I would rely on what we went over as well as
19 the full exchanges contained in the six sets of text messages
20 with the 8514 number and the 4502 number that we went over
21 with Victims 1, 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6.
22 I just want to highlight that. As we saw with
23 especially Victims 1, 2 and 4, the scheme progressed in
24 increments as you get the victim to pay in stages, a
25 relatively low amount up front, $600, and which we saw was
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 49 of49
69
1 $450 for the supposed puppy, $150 for the shipping. But then
2 once you get the shipping started, then the puppy supposedly
3 is already in transit somewhere, and the scheme calls for all
4 sorts of excuses to extract more payments.
5 And if you look at Victim 1, fleeced for at least
6 six payments that we saw in the Western Union records; and
7 those six, the six Western Union payments from the Western
8 District of Pennsylvania are the bases of the wire fraud
9 charges at Counts 2 through 7 of the Complaint.
10 And during Special Agent Boling's testimony last
11 time, we matched each of those six payments as being induced
12 by messages that the 8514 number was exchanging with Victim
13 1, promising her that first delivery will be done the next
14 day morning with total refunds. Then something comes up, and
15 then the puppy is in Kentucky, and then something comes up
16 again, asking for more money, and then the puppy then made it
17 to Maryland, and then something again comes up.
18 And we have probably the most egregious lies about
19 the $1,500 refundable fee to pay for five days of coronavirus
20 quarantine, and then the $980 fee to get refunded the
21 previously paid, quote, unquote, refundable fees.
22 Victim 1 paid everything all the way to the end,
23 and she still got no puppy and no refunds.
24 Looking at all 30 pages of those messages now, we
25 can easily see just from the face of them that this was a
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 50 of50
69
1 scam. And some of the other victims realized that early,
2 too. Victim 6, who was in the Western District of
3 Pennsylvania, knew before paying any money. And Victims 2
4 and 4 realized the scam after one surprise refundable fee
5 request.
6 But the fraudsters preyed on Victim 1's emotional
7 vulnerability. She said she was getting the dog for her mom
8 since they had to put down her mom's dog, and she thought
9 this dog looked exactly like that. So she fell for those
10 false premises when there was no dog and no shipping. And
11 there was no refundable crate or vaccine guarantee either.
12 We saw in the E-mail today with Victim 3 that
13 Supreme Court vaccine guarantee. We all know from the face
14 of that that that's bogus.
15 The Supreme Court of the United States is not in
16 the business of guaranteeing refunds on crating or shipping
17 puppies. Just the fact that that is even used at all, and it
18 was actually E-mailed to Victim 3, unlike the draft E-mail
19 that we saw with Victim's 1 info did not have a "sent." But
20 we know that this E-mail was actually sent because that's
21 what Google's records tell us.
22 And as for who was behind the scheme, well, whether
23 or not that included more co-conspirators, it certainly
24 included -- regardless of how many other co-conspirators it
25 had, it certainly included the Defendant.
Exhibit G
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69
1 We went over the two Western Union payments that
2 Victim 2 sent to Romania. We had gone over this during
3 Special Agent Boling's testimony last time. But if we look
4 to matching the corresponding lines in the text messages, the
5 payments were also requested to be made to Desmond Fodje
6 Bobga in Romania, as was the first payment, the initial
7 payment request to Victim 1.
8 It was also requested as a Moneygram payment to the
9 Defendant in his own name. And that didn't pan out. So more
10 people -- they switched -- directed Victim 1 switch to
11 Western Union, and the payments ended up going over to
12 Romania and were picked up in the names of other individuals.
13 But at least as to Victim 2's two payments, as we
14 just saw, the Defendant himself was the payee. He used his
15 Cameroonian passport in one and his Romanian I.D. card in the
16 other and picked up both of those in Romania.
17 As for the other individuals, counsel brought up
18 the payments from Victims 3 and 5 that were sent to -- paid
19 out in locations in the United States, and then with Victim 1
20 there were the payments that were received in the names of
21 the other individuals in Romania, some of whom were directly
22 linked to the Defendant.
23 Now, whether or not those individuals were witting
24 participants in the scheme is something that is a different
25 aspect of the story that we don't need to address here.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 52 of52
69
1 Counsel initially asked in cross-examination of Special Agent
2 Boling how many co-conspirators she thought there were, and
3 she had said that there were a total of two to three in
4 Romania and Cameroon.
5 A co-conspirator is a witting participant. Whether
6 or not the individuals in Maryland, the other individuals in
7 Romania were witting or unwitting money mules or witting or
8 unwitting participants has no impact on whether or not this
9 Defendant is liable for the offense conduct.
10 If they were unwitting, at a minimum, his use of
11 them to receive the payments is still -- he's still
12 criminally liable by conduct; and if they were witting, then
13 they are simply co-conspirators who committed acts in
14 furtherance of a joint agreement.
15 And even if the messages were -- in the 4502 number
16 were sent by a co-conspirator or if there were payments
17 induced from victims based on co-conspirators' materially
18 false misrepresentations, as long as those were done during
19 the time that this Defendant was a knowing and willing
20 participant in the conspiracy, he's on the hook with
21 Pinkerton liability for the conduct of all other acts
22 committed by others in the joint agreement if they were in
23 furtherance -- within the scope and in furtherance of the
24 conspiracy.
25 So what sets him apart as a witting participant and
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 53 of53
69
1 at a minimum as a culpable Defendant and as a co-conspirator
2 is not only that he picked up the money, but also the cookie
3 links, the recovery E-mail links, the IP address links and
4 the E-mails that we went over today connecting the different
5 accounts, the unitedpetsafe, to the Defendant's personal
6 account, fodjebobga1.
7 They show that he was controlling the -- at least
8 by probable cause and I would submit by evidence beyond a
9 reasonable doubt, that he was the one controlling at a
10 minimum the 8514 Google Voice number and the unitedpetsafe
11 E-mail account, that E-mailed the fake Supreme Court
12 guarantee and had E-mailed to himself his own Romanian
13 university letter.
14 So by being not only behind the messages, behind
15 the accounts that sent the material false representations to
16 the victims inducing the payments, but by also being the
17 direct receiver of some of the payments, this Defendant was a
18 knowing and willful participant in the scam.
19 THE COURT: I'm going to ask you just a couple of
20 questions to make sure I understand your argument. First of
21 all, can you identify all the accounts and phone numbers?
22 And when I say accounts, I'm talking about E-mail and phone
23 numbers that the evidence linked to Mr. Bobga?
24 MR. XIANG: Your Honor, we have the 8514 Google
25 Voice number with the full numbers 434-214-8514.
Exhibit G
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69
1 THE COURT: Right. There's the unitedpetsafe
2 E-mail; correct?
3 MR. XIANG: Yes, Your Honor. That's what we went
4 over today, mainly unitedpetsafe2009@gmail.com.
5 THE COURT: The joebah77 gmail account?
6 MR. XIANG: Yes, Your Honor.
7 THE COURT: And what else?
8 MR. XIANG: The lovelyteacupchihuahua1 gmail
9 account, that, Your Honor, was the subject of Exhibit 10A as
10 in Adam and 7D as in David. So that was the E-mail account
11 that's linked to the Defendant and that had responded to the
12 FBI undercover request that we saw. This was among the first
13 exhibits that we saw. It was the same -- it was the website
14 that Victims 4 and 6 had E-mailed to -- or had submitted a
15 contact request to and then received a response from the8514
16 number.
17 The FBI UC didn't put in a telephone number. He
18 only put in his E-mail. And the E-mail response he received
19 was from lovelyteacupchihuahua1, which said things about
20 being a breeder in Oklahoma City. It actually was identical
21 to what the 8514 number was telling Victim 6, but not Victim
22 4 because of the change in location, which we submit is -- as
23 we discussed, was a lie, and it was to put distance between
24 Victim 4, who was in Dallas, from the location where the
25 puppy supposedly could be.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 55 of55
69
1 And I would also note, Your Honor, as we had in the
2 redacted contacts form that Special Agent Boling went over
3 last time, the very first contact submitted through the
4 website was for the E-mail account -- had the E-mail
5 fodjebobga1. And that we submit is part of the tying him to
6 the scheme.
7 When you set up something for the first time when
8 you do your test run, you want to make sure that it works,
9 and so we think it's no coincidence and actually an act in
10 furtherance of the scheme to have tested out the website's
11 submission form with a co-conspirator's E-mail account.
12 So I think that covers the four E-mail accounts and
13 then the 8514 number.
14 As for whether or not the 4502 Google Voice number
15 was controlled by the Defendant, we believe it is -- it may
16 and it may not; but for purposes of whether or not, I think
17 it doesn't matter here because either he does control them,
18 in which case he's directly liable for them, or he doesn't,
19 but with the -- through Victim 3, which had the
20 communications with the 4502 number and received the
21 fraudulent Supreme Court document from Fodje Bobga's -- one
22 of his E-mail accounts in unitedpetsafe, the 4502 then is an
23 overlapping co-conspirator, which again then would make the
24 Defendant liable through Pinkerton.
25 So it's either he did it directly or a
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 56 of56
69
1 co-conspirator did it, and there -- with an overlapping
2 victim; and, therefore, he's equally culpable under the law.
3 THE COURT: And one other question going back to
4 your discussion about conspiracy. Is it your position that
5 in order to have a conspiracy, there has to be multiple
6 participants who are part of the scheme? In other words, as
7 you've described it, witting participants as opposed to
8 unwitting?
9 MR. XIANG: Correct, Your Honor, which is why the
10 only one that we are -- we emphasize to a certain degree is
11 the 0347 number. That's why we went over that. Victim 4
12 said both the 8514 number and the 0347 number played roles in
13 the scheme against him. And we showed there were
14 communications between those two numbers.
15 Therefore, at least I would argue I think we can
16 certainly have probable cause to believe that, because those
17 two numbers are communicating with each other, including on a
18 call that lasted over a half minute, that they were
19 controlled by two different people and not one person.
20 THE COURT: All right. And that -- I apologize.
21 That was victim -- which victim?
22 MR. XIANG: Victim 4, Your Honor, that was Exhibit
23 4B as in boy. That was the group message that had all three
24 on them, 8514, 0347 and Victim 4.
25 THE COURT: All right. Thank you very much. I
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 57 of57
69
1 appreciate that.
2 Ms. Levin, I'm happy to hear from you as well.
3 MS. LEVIN: Thank you, Your Honor. The Government
4 obviously presented an awful lot of evidence here. I'm not
5 going to argue to this Court that there was no scheme, and
6 I'm not going to argue to the Court that, you know, nobody in
7 the Western District of Pennsylvania lost money as a result
8 of this scheme.
9 What I am going to argue to the Court is that there
10 is not probable cause that Mr. Bobga had some kind of
11 agreement for the extent of the scheme as charged in Count 1.
12 Your Honor, Count 1 is charged from June of 2018
13 through present, a conspiracy to commit wire fraud. And as
14 Your Honor knows, the law requires some kind of agreement
15 among co-conspirators, and the extent of the scheme being
16 reasonably foreseeable to the person who's charged. And here
17 it's Mr. Bobga.
18 And I don't think we've seen evidence that
19 Mr. Bobga was a knowing participant in the full extent of the
20 scheme here that's being charged in Count 1.
21 Similarly, I don't think we've seen evidence that
22 Mr. Bobga is the one in Counts 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 who is
23 causing Victim 1 to wire money to Romania.
24 And again, I'll remind the Court in Counts 2
25 through 7 there are others located in Romania, some of whom
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 58 of58
69
1 are students at the same university where the Government is
2 presenting evidence that Mr. Bobga is a student of, who
3 received that money.
4 We see no E-mail communications between alleged
5 co-conspirators. We've seen no evidence of an agreement
6 between alleged co-conspirators.
7 And then, Your Honor, in Counts 8, 9 and 10, those
8 are individuals in Maryland, Virginia and in Florida who are
9 receiving money. And we see no evidence that Mr. Bobga had
10 any knowledge that those individuals received money, that
11 that was a part of the agreement, that he benefited from that
12 agreement.
13 And, you know, that's all to understand whether the
14 scope again is reasonably foreseeable to him, that there are
15 individuals in three different states in the United States to
16 which he's never traveled, and for which we've seen no
17 communication that that is part of that scheme.
18 For Counts 11 and 12, Your Honor, so this E-mail
19 with the document that's the subject of both counts, it's
20 dated March of 2019. We have no IP address information for
21 March of 2019 for this E-mail account. We have no
22 information about what device the fraudulent document was
23 found on. We have no communications about this document.
24 And if Mr. Bobga is being charged as a conspirator
25 to either forge a seal or perpetrate identity theft, we have
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 59 of59
69
1 no evidence of an agreement that he understood or
2 participated in this aspect of the scheme here that's being
3 charged.
4 I pointed out in cross-examination that we have
5 different IP addresses here resolving to the United States,
6 to Bangladesh, obviously to Cameroon, and we have no
7 knowledge of any other participants' exact locations -- well,
8 sorry. We have no knowledge of where in Cameroon any one
9 individual associated with the scheme is located at any point
10 in time.
11 You know, when we see Mr. Bobga's passport, I
12 believe that shows date of birth. That's not showing any
13 information for exact location within the country of Cameroon
14 at any one point in time.
15 I'm just going over a couple of notes. Your Honor,
16 the Government is admitting here that they don't have
17 evidence to present showing that Mr. Bobga is the user or the
18 user at any specific moment in time of that Google Voice
19 account. And we have no voice recording. We have no bank
20 account information.
21 We just don't have the evidence I believe to show
22 that there's probable cause that he understood the -- that he
23 agreed to fully participate in the scheme anywhere other than
24 the moments in time where the Government has evidence that
25 he -- and, you know, money was received in Romania under his
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 60 of60
69
1 name or anything like that.
2 And I think the point about the IP address I think
3 is important because we know that there are other
4 participants in Romania who received money at different
5 points in time at that same university and would resolve to
6 that same IP address. Cameroon we know even less about that.
7 And, Your Honor, with that I would argue that there
8 hasn't been probable cause to establish the full extent of
9 the conspiracy charged in Count 1 and that there's not been
10 probable cause to establish the additional counts for the
11 reasons I've mentioned. Thanks.
12 THE COURT: All right. Thank you. Mr. Xiang, I
13 assume you would like me to give you an opportunity to
14 respond to that.
15 MR. XIANG: Your Honor, I'll touch on two things.
16 One, counsel said the Government concedes we don't know who
17 controlled the Google Voice account.
18 Just to be clear, there are two Google Voice
19 numbers at play here, the 8514 number and the 4502 number.
20 It's only as to the 4502 number that we're saying, one, we
21 don't have -- we did not present who controlled that number,
22 but we're saying that that is irrelevant for the Court's
23 consideration as to this Defendant's participation.
24 He controlled the 8514 number. We have that linked
25 to the E-mail account that's associated to the joebah77,
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 61 of61
69
1 which has -- the recovery E-mail is the Defendant's personal
2 account. And it shares the IP logins with his personal
3 account. It was directing messages -- from that number were
4 directing payments to be sent to him in Romania.
5 So there's a physical manifestation that matches
6 his conduct in the real world, his personal conduct of
7 getting the money, to the fact that he was the controller of
8 that E-mail account.
9 There's no evidence that any of those other people
10 who picked up the stuff were, but even if they did, those
11 messages are all in the accounts. We got them months after
12 the fact with search warrants. Anybody logging in could see
13 them.
14 So if he was making his account -- assuming that he
15 made his communication in the accounts available to other
16 people for use in the same thing, he would know that, and he
17 would see that, and he would see that he's getting the money
18 for it. And that would also make him a knowing and willful
19 participant, even if what counsel posits could be true.
20 And, you know, as I said at the outset,
21 circumstantial cases will not be 100 percent complete. That
22 is what a conspiracy is about.
23 There's always going to be a certain level of
24 unknown from an outsider's perspective, from the Government's
25 perspective, from what anybody could see from the outside.
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 62 of62
69
1 You need to be an insider to know everything about what's
2 going on, and we don't have that, but we don't need that.
3 But the law does not require us to present that.
4 Anything from -- at least what we have for 8514 and
5 unitedpetsafe, those two were most certainly this Defendant's
6 accounts, and he got money paid out as a result of his lies.
7 Now, as for Count 1, the scope, I'll agree that we
8 did not present anything here actually stretching the
9 conspiracy back to June of 2018. But that's immaterial as to
10 finding whether or not -- a probable cause that the offense
11 was committed.
12 Just to highlight, Victim 3 is the earliest that we
13 have in time. And Victim 3 particularly, we're saying is the
14 Defendant's personal involvement in sending that fake vaccine
15 guarantee from unitedpetsafe2009. That was in March of 2019.
16 So if we want to have a book end, that would be the
17 first in time, which makes Victim 5, who was a month after
18 that -- a month after that as being within the scope of the
19 conspiracy that he was a part of already. So -- and that
20 goes all the way up to the latest we have is Victim 1.
21 If there's any argument that maybe he didn't know
22 the full scope at the beginning, well, he certainly knew it
23 after progressing through the five preceding victims with
24 some of them calling him out as being a scam. And by the
25 point he gets to Victim 1 and strings her along with --
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 63 of63
69
1 also induces to get more money, he knew by then that there
2 was no puppy, there was no delivery, and that this was a
3 fraud, and that he was a part of it.
4 THE COURT: Could you specifically address Counts
5 8, 9 and 10 and what links the Defendant to those? We don't
6 need to go through to whom the money was wired. I just want
7 to know what evidence you presented since we've had multiple
8 hours of this testimony regarding the Defendant's involvement
9 in those.
10 MR. XIANG: I'll start with Count 8, Your Honor.
11 So that is the wire fraud count relating to the payment by
12 Victim 3. And so that's the $600 payment that Special Agent
13 Boling went over that was for the puppy. Then -- which we
14 were saw from the Moneygram record was on -- March 29, 2019,
15 which was the same date of the E-mail from unitedpetsafe to
16 Victim 3 about crating the puppy.
17 So we saw from the -- how the scheme progressed,
18 that you pay for the puppy first, and then you start getting
19 hooked with the shipping, refundable shipping fees.
20 So -- but we know that Victim 3 did not -- we don't
21 have that she paid anything further. So we're not
22 necessarily saying that the Defendant himself was the one who
23 used the 4502 number to call her or to induce that $600
24 payment. But as we saw with Victim 4, there were times where
25 two different people played two different roles, one being
Exhibit G
Case 2:21-cr-00430-NBF Document 64-6 Filed 03/28/22 Page 64 of64
69
1 the supposed shipper and one being the puppy seller.
2 And here, with Victim 3, the Defendant was the
3 overlap as the shipper. So whoever it is induced her to send
4 the money for the puppy, he was the one who followed up with
5 this vaccine thing. And through -- if he was not the one who
6 induced her to pay for the puppy in the first place, he was
7 at least already part of the scheme by helping to perpetrate
8 the latter half of it.
9 And that means he has Pinkerton liability for what
10 his co-conspirators did in the first half of the scheme, that
11 he's already a member of the agreement, and that therefore,
12 what other people are doing within the scope of the agreement
13 and in furtherance of it, he's on the hook for it even if he
14 doesn't know that they were happening.
15 And he must have known that they were happening
16 because he was following up with the refundable fee lies to
17 the same victim, who had already paid. And we know that that
18 always comes after the victim pays for the supposed puppy.
19 THE COURT: Okay. As to Count 9? I just want to
20 know what the link is between the Defendant and the wire.
21 MR. XIANG: So Counts 9 and 10 are the two payments
22 by Victim 5. So for Victim 5, we're not saying that there
23 was -- without presenting whether or not there was a direct
24 link between Victim 5 and the Defendant that there was for
25 Victim 3 -- who have a similar E-mail.
Exhibit G
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69
1 But because Victim 5 was contacted with the 4502
2 number, the same 4502 number as Victim 3, and Victim 5
3 occurred after Victim 3, meaning that it occurred after we at
4 least have our first day that the Defendant was a part of the
5 scheme, then it's at a minimum pure Pinkerton liability that
6 whoever is behind 4502 victimized other people during the
7 course of the conspiracy that the Defendant was a part of,
8 was a knowing and willful participant in. And therefore,
9 he's on the -- legally he's on the look for it even if he had
10 no specific knowledge that it happened.
11 THE COURT: All right. Thank you. Ms. Levin,
12 anything further from you?
13 MS. LEVIN: No, thank you, Your Honor.
14 THE COURT: All right. Then let me address as best
15 I can, I appreciate all of your evidence and arguments that
16 you presented here. Let me start perhaps at the conclusion
17 of the charges.
18 I'm going to first turn to Counts 11 and 12, which
19 relate to using -- in Count 11 sending to Victim 3 a
20 counterfeit seal of a Court of the United States, that being
21 the Supreme Court, and a forged signature of the Clerk, as
22 well as Count 12, which relates to that same issue.
23 There was testimony presented that that document
24 was sent by the e-mail address associated with unitedpetsafe.
25 The recovery E-mail of that, and as the testimony has
Exhibit G
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1 indicated, is the recovery E-mail associated with the
2 Defendant; and therefore, I am finding that there is probable
3 cause with respect to Counts 11 and 12.
4 Whether or not it was Mr. Bobga that actually
5 forged a document or provided an altered Supreme Court --
6 alleged Supreme Court document I think remains for another
7 day, but I do think there's probable cause that Mr. Bobga
8 committed Counts 11 and 12.
9 With respect to the conspiracy in Count 1, I did
10 not hear any evidence that would suggest the conspiracy began
11 in June of 2018, as set forth in the criminal complaint. I
12 do note that there was sufficient evidence of a conspiracy
13 with respect to the telephone numbers, and I'm just going to
14 use the end numbers. I know that's what we've been doing
15 here today between 8514 and 4502.
16 I also believe that there was evidence with a link
17 between phone numbers 8514, which was linked to Mr. Bobga,
18 and 0437. So there is some evidence of a conspiracy.
19 Whether it is as broad as the Government suggests, I don't
20 believe there's been sufficient evidence presented that all
21 of the recipients of monies were aware of the existence of a
22 conspiracy. But there is sufficient evidence to support that
23 at least with respect to Victim 4, Victim 3, and Victim 5.
24 Turning to the Counts -- and so I am finding
25 probable cause, although not probable cause before March of
Exhibit G
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69
1 2019.
2 Turning to the Counts of wire fraud, which are in
3 Counts 2 through 10, with respect to Counts 2 through --
4 excuse me for a moment -- 2 through 7, there was sufficient
5 evidence presented to show a link between Mr. Bobga and the
6 wires that were sent by Western Union to Romania. So I do
7 find that there is probable cause to establish a link between
8 Mr. Bobga and the wires themselves.
9 So with respect to Counts 2 through 7, I do find
10 that there is probable cause.
11 I note with respect to Counts 8, 9 and 10, that
12 those communications in part were with the 4502 number,
13 again, just using that. That number has not been linked to
14 Mr. Bobga. It has been linked to an alleged co-conspirator.
15 And there was evidence presented that with respect
16 to Victim 3, there were communications with Victim 3 both by
17 the account associated or the Google Voice account associated
18 with Mr. Bobga, 8514, and the unknown account ending with
19 4502.
20 So with respect to Count 8, I believe there is
21 sufficient circumstantial evidence that the Defendant was
22 involved in facilitating the transfer. I do note that the
23 monies were received by someone in the United States.
24 There's been no link that there was a conspiracy
25 between whoever received those monies and Mr. Bobga based on
Exhibit G
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69
1 the evidence presented here today, as I referenced earlier
2 with respect to my discussions about conspiracy. But I do
3 find that with respect to Count 8, there has been probable
4 cause established.
5 With respect to Counts 9 and 10, the evidence
6 reflected that an alleged co-conspirator with the number
7 ending in 4502 was involved in communications with Victim 5.
8 There was, at least according to what I've heard here today,
9 no evidence linking Mr. Bobga to those communications.
10 I will note that according to the Government, and
11 based on the evidence here today, there was evidence linking
12 account 4502 to account 8514 associated with Mr. Bobga.
13 However, I don't see any evidence presented here today. Then
14 give me a moment because I want to review everything that I
15 have here -- that Mr. Bobga was involved in those
16 communications. But please bear with me for a moment while I
17 review a document.
18 (Brief pause.)
19 While there may have been a conspiracy between the
20 unknown 4502 and Mr. Bobga, I don't see any evidence of
21 Mr. Bobga's involvement in that transaction based on the
22 evidence here today. So I don't believe probable cause has
23 been established for Counts 9 and 10.
24 Those are my findings here today. I will issue an
25 Order to that effect after this proceeding.
Exhibit G
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69
1 Is there anything else that counsel wanted to
2 address during this proceeding?
3 MR. XIANG: No, Your Honor.
4 MS. LEVIN: Not on behalf of Mr. Bobga. Thank you,
5 Your Honor.
6 THE COURT: All right. Thank you all. I
7 appreciate your presentations and patience throughout this
8 proceeding, and that concludes our proceeding here today.
9 MR. XIANG: Thank you, Your Honor.
10 (Proceedings were concluded at 11:26 a.m.)
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17 C E R T I F I C A T E
18
19 I, Deborah Rowe, certify that the foregoing is
20 a correct transcript from the record of proceedings in the
21 above-titled matter.
22
23 S/Deborah Rowe __________________________________
24 Certified Realtime Reporter
25
Exhibit GFile and source
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- 64-att6.pdf
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- 176,139 bytes
- SHA-256
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- Our copy
- 64-att6.pdf