Profiles · Defendants
- Type
- Person
- Role
- Defendant
- Programs
- ERC
- Updated
The profile
A Queens man charged in March 2025 as the first-named of six defendants in a check-fraud ring that, prosecutors allege, tried to cash about $80 million in stolen, forged and fraudulently obtained checks, many of them Employee Retention Credit refunds, and deposited about $50 million with help from a bank teller. The charges are allegations.
Identity and role
Shan Anand, 34, of Queens, New York, is the first defendant named in a four-count indictment unsealed in the Southern District of New York on March 20, 2025. The co-defendants are Nosakhare Nobore, 29, of Edgewater, New Jersey; Nicholas Pappas, 28, of Miami; Leonard Ujkic, 44, of Fort Lauderdale; Solomon Aluko, 29, known as "D1 ReallyRich," of Hackensack, New Jersey; and Jorge Gonzalez, 28, of North Bergen, New Jersey. The FBI and IRS Criminal Investigation investigated, with help from the Postal Inspection Service and the New York Police Department.
The case and pandemic-relief role
The Employee Retention Credit (ERC) and the qualified sick leave wage credit were paid out as Treasury checks mailed to employers. According to the indictment as the U.S. Attorney's Office summarized it, from 2021 to 2025 the six opened bank accounts with fake or stolen identities of individuals and businesses, assisted by one defendant who was a teller at a major bank, and deposited checks into them. Many of the checks were Treasury checks "issued ... based on false and fraudulent filings" for ERC and sick-leave credits by fake or sham businesses. Others were tax refunds, Veterans Affairs and Social Security payments, checks stolen from the mail, and partly or wholly forged checks. The money came out in cash or by transfer.
In total, the office says, the defendants tried to obtain about $80 million and deposited about $50 million. The release describes a screen recording of a document titled "2021 Fraud Bible," with instructions for credit card, ATM and mobile cash transfer fraud. It says members of the group wore clothing with a "Bag Hunter" logo, including while withdrawing money.
Legal status / controversies
- Charged: by indictment unsealed March 20, 2025: conspiracy to commit wire and bank fraud (maximum 30 years), conspiracy to commit money laundering and a monetary-transaction count (maximum 20 years), conspiracy to defraud the government (maximum 10 years) and aggravated identity theft (mandatory two years).
- None of the six has been convicted in the records we found; the charges are allegations. The office's release does not say which defendant was the bank teller.
Where they are now (2025–2026)
We found no later Justice Department release on the case through September 15, 2026.