Verified Complaint For Forfeiture In Rem Page 1
- Date
- 2022-07-31
Summary
A verified complaint for forfeiture in rem filed January 31, 2023 as Document 1 in United States v. $32,381.00 in United States Currency, No. 1:23-CV-00044, in the United States District Court for the Eastern District of Texas, Beaumont Division. Brought under Fed. R. Civ. P. Supplemental Rule G(2), it seeks forfeiture of $32,381.00 in currency seized on July 31, 2022 and asserts jurisdiction under 28 U.S.C. § 1345 and 28 U.S.C. § 1355(a). The complaint describes the Paycheck Protection Program under the CARES Act and alleges that the potential claimant and others filed more than one hundred fifty fraudulent PPP loan applications, procuring approximately $3.2 million between February 2021 and June 2021, and later a tax refund scheme procuring approximately $2.2 million. It is verified under 28 U.S.C. § 1746 by a Senior Special Agent. The document is 17 pages.
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Case 1:23-cv-00044-MJT-CLS Document 1 Filed 01/31/23 Page 1 of 17 PageID #: 1
IN THE UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT
FOR THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF TEXAS
BEAUMONT DIVISION
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, §
Plaintiff, §
§
v. § No. 1:23-CV-00044
§
$32,381.00 IN UNITED STATES, §
CURRENCY, §
Defendant. §
VERIFIED COMPLAINT FOR FORFEITURE
In accordance with Fed. R. Civ. P. Supplemental Rule G(2), the United
States of America, Plaintiff, brings this complaint for forfeiture and alleges as
follows:
NATURE OF ACTION
1. This matter is an in rem action brought against the following
defendant property: $32,381.00 in United States currency seized on July 31,
2022.
JURISDICTION AND VENUE
2. The Court has subject matter jurisdiction over an action
commenced by the United States pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1345 and over an
action for forfeiture pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1355(a).
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3. The Court has in rem jurisdiction over the defendant property
pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1355(b)(1)(A) because acts or omissions giving rise to
the forfeiture occurred in the Eastern District of Texas.
4. Venue is proper pursuant to 28 U.S.C. §1355(b)(1)(A) because
acts or omissions giving rise to the forfeiture occurred in the Eastern District
of Texas.
THE PAYCHECK PROTECTION PROGRAM
5. The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (“CARES”)
Act was a federal law enacted in March 2020 and designed to provide
emergency financial assistance to the millions of Americans who are suffering
the economic effects caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. One source of relief
provided by the CARES Act was the authorization of forgivable loans to small
businesses for job retention and certain other expenses, through a program
referred to as the Paycheck Protection Program (“PPP”).
6. To obtain a PPP loan, a qualifying business was required to
submit a PPP loan application, which was signed by an authorized
representative of the business. The PPP loan application required the
business (through its authorized representative) to acknowledge the program
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rules and make certain affirmative certifications in order to be eligible to
obtain the PPP loan. In the PPP loan application (SBA Form 2483), the
small business (through its authorized representative) was required to state,
among other things, its: (a) average monthly payroll expenses; and (b)
number of employees. These figures were used to calculate the amount of
money the small business is eligible to receive under the PPP. In addition,
businesses applying for a PPP loan were required to provide documentation
showing their payroll expenses.
7. A PPP loan application was processed by a participating lender.
If a PPP loan application was approved, the participating lender funded the
PPP loan using its own monies, which were guaranteed by the Small
Business Administration (“SBA”). Data from the application, including
information about the borrower, the total amount of the loan, and the listed
number of employees, was transmitted by the lender to the SBA in the course
of processing the loan.
8. PPP loan proceeds were required to be used on certain
permissible expenses, including payroll costs, mortgage interest, rent, and
utilities. Under the applicable PPP rules and guidance, the interest and
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principal on the PPP loan is eligible for forgiveness if the business spent the
loan proceeds on these expense items within a designated period of time and
used a certain portion of the loan towards payroll expenses.
FACTUAL BACKGROUND
9. On August 1, 2022, Homeland Security Investigations Office of
the Resident Agent in Charge Beaumont, Texas (“HSI Beaumont”) received
an investigative referral from the Beaumont Police Department (“BPD”)
regarding a July 31, 2022, encounter with Artisha Gabriella Dimetrika
Martin in Beaumont.
July 31, 2022 BPD Traffic Stop of Martin Results in Seizures
10. On July 31, 2022, BPD conducted a traffic stop on Interstate-10
of a four-door gray in color Toyota Camry bearing Texas license plate KMW-
8455. The Toyota Camry was occupied by Martin and two minor children.
Law enforcement records revealed that the Toyota Camry was registered to
Martin at a residence in Baytown, Texas.
11. During the traffic stop, Martin provided BPD a fictious State of
New Jersey driver’s license that depicted a photograph of Martin and the
name “Rikkita Jones.” Martin also provided BPD with a fictious social
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security number. During the encounter, Martin told BPD that she had been
a resident of New Jersey approximately six (6) months preceding the
encounter and stated that she was a resident of Baytown. Law enforcement
databases did not reveal any data and/or information regarding Martin’s
claimed New Jersey residency.
12. During the traffic encounter with Martin, BPD observed raw
marijuana and bulk United States currency in plain sight near the front
passenger area of the Toyota Camry. BPD conducted a probable cause search
of the Toyota Camry. As a result of the search, BPD seized $32,381.00 in
bulk cash that is the subject of this civil forfeiture complaint. BPD also
seized a total of 38 money orders valued at $22,500.00, 1 27 financial records
and bank cards issued to 27 other people who were not present during the
traffic encounter, four laptop computers, and eleven cellular telephones. BPD
also discovered and seized Martin’s State of Louisiana identification card that
depicted a photograph of Martin and her true and correct biographical
information, Martin’s business records, Martin’s Bank of America financial
1 These were comprised of nine (9) Rouses Money Orders; twenty-eight (28) Winn
Dixie Western Union Money Orders; and one (1) Wal-Mart Western Union Money Order.
These money orders were not issued to a specific party, which means they could have been
endorsed and cashed by any party who physically possessed the financial instruments.
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records, and a ledger that contained numerous names, addresses, and bank
account information for other individuals.
August 1, 2022 Interview of Martin by BPD
13. On August 1, 2022, BPD interviewed with Martin. During the
interview, Martin provided her true and correct biographical information.
She claimed that she was traveling from Louisiana to Baytown when she was
pulled over the day prior.
14. During the interview, Martin claimed to be a rap artist,
entrepreneur, and Certified Nursing Assistant. She said she owned a
consulting business called “Generational Wealth Empire Development, LLC”,
a business she used to conduct consultation services and tax preparation
services. Martin stated that her business-related fees ranged from $3,000.00
to $9,000.00 per consultation and stated that she sourced clientele from social
media platforms. She also claimed to own an apparel company called
“Artymar Collection/Artymar of Fashion.”
15. When pressed by BPD about the source of the bulk cash, Martin
made inconsistent statements for the source of the funds. For example, she
said that $16,000 of the bulk cash came from her 2021 tax refund of $23,000.
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In other parts of the interview, Martin stated she had only made $50,000 in
2021. A tax refund of $23,000 would have been 46% of her entire self-
reported 2021 income. That’s not how income taxes work.
16. Martin also claimed that she was in possession of others’ bank
cards because her clientele had purportedly allowed Generational Wealth
Empire Development, LLC to charge fees associated with tax preparation
consultation services and tax filings. Martin admitted that she opened up
bank accounts using her clients’ personal identifying information.
17. Following the interview, BPD arrested Martin for felony identity
theft under Texas law. BPD obtained search warrants for all four of Martin’s
cellular telephones and extracted that data through a certified forensic
examiner.
18. BPD referred the case to HSI Beaumont for further investigation.
Subsequent Law Enforcement Efforts
19. To facilitate its investigation, HSI Beaumont took possession of
all relevant evidence from BPD.
20. A review of the Apple iPhone cellular telephones seized from
Martin revealed thousands of stored photographs and videos of Martin;
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furthermore, law enforcement databases revealed that the cellular telephone
numbers associated with the Apple iPhone cellular phones were registered to
or previously registered to Martin.
21. The investigation revealed that in 2021, Martin orchestrated an
elaborate scheme to defraud the United States through the exploitation of
federal funding allocated to small businesses in an effort to combat the
negative economic impact caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. The
investigation revealed that Martin and others made false entries on IRS
financial records, provided inflated and false business revenue data, created
fraudulent bank statements for legitimate Federal Deposit Insurance
Corporation financial accounts, and created sham businesses and sole
proprietorships to facilitate the processing and funding of fraudulent
Paycheck Protection Program, hereinafter referred to as “PPP” loan
applications.
22. The investigation revealed that Martin and more than one
hundred (100) other individuals in the Eastern District of Texas and in other
states conspired to commit loan fraud through the filing of more than one-
hundred fifty (150) fraudulent PPP loan applications. The investigation
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revealed that through Martin’s efforts and those of others, the criminal
network fraudulently procured approximately $3.2 million dollars in PPP
loan funding between February 2021 and June 2021.
23. The investigation revealed that Martin and co-conspirators
committed wire fraud and bank fraud through the utilization of various
financial institutions to facilitate domestic wire transfers and utilized peer-
to-peer financial services to facilitate the transfer of fraudulently procured
PPP loan funding. The investigation revealed that Martin provided co-
conspirators instructions on how to properly structure transactions
associated with the fraudulent PPP loan funds, and how to successfully
acquire forgiveness of the PPP loans.
24. The investigation revealed that between May 2022 and August
2022, Martin used social media to promote a tax fraud scheme. Martin used
Generational Wealth Empire Development to promote the tax fraud scheme.
The investigation revealed that Martin and more than one hundred (100)
others in the Eastern District of Texas and in other states conspired to
commit tax fraud through the filing of fraudulent IRS tax return documents.
The investigation revealed that the criminal network procured approximately
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$2.2 million dollars in tax refund funding between May 2022 and August
2022.
25. The investigation revealed that Martin guaranteed her clientele
upwards of $29,000.00 tax refunds regardless of their tax filing status or
employment status. Martin admitted to BPD that she would charge a fee of
$9,000.00 to $10,000.00 upon successful funding of these bogus tax returns.
Martin offered to compensate her clientele between $1,500.00 and $2,000.00
for successfully recruiting additional clientele to participate in the criminal
conspiracy.
26. The investigation further revealed that Martin used a weblink
associated with her company Generational Wealth Empire Development to
source the following information from her clientele: first name, last name,
social security number, email address, residential address, bank name,
account number, routing number, ID.me username and password, and State-
issued identification documents. Martin subsequently used the sourced
information to prepare/file fraudulent tax related documents.
27. The investigation revealed that Martin’s Apple iPhones contained
stored copies of co-conspirator’s IRS Form 1040 – U.S. Individual Income Tax
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Returns, and stored IRS online refund tracking portal weblinks that
contained co-conspirators’ personal identifying information. The
investigation revealed that Martin used similar data entries on others’ tax
documents to ensure each client received a tax refund in excess of $20,000.00
regardless of whether they were actually entitled to receive such a refund.
28. The investigation revealed that Martin engaged in a scheme to
fraudulently create bank accounts with co-conspirator’s biographical
information. Martin primarily created the accounts with GO2BANK. The
investigation revealed that Martin chose GO2BANK because the financial
institution permits up to $9,000.00 daily withdrawals. The investigation
revealed that Martin routed the bank cards associated with her clients’ newly
created accounts to addresses associated with Martin in Texas and
Louisiana. The investigation revealed that Martin conspired with relatives
to receive the bank cards. Upon receipt of the bank cards and notification
that the tax refunds were deposited into the newly created accounts, Martin
used others’ bank cards to withdraw her compensation.
29. The investigation revealed that Martin used various money
service businesses, namely Western Union and Rouses to purchase money
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orders with a cash value between $500.00 and $1,000.00. Martin traveled to
various stores and purchased money orders until she accumulated her tax
preparation fees of $9,000.00 to $10,000.00. The investigation revealed that
Martin made these withdrawals without her clients’ knowledge. The
investigation revealed that Martin committed mail fraud by subsequently
mailing the clients their newly acquired bank cards following the withdrawal
of her tax preparation fees.
30. The investigation revealed that on an occasion, Martin utilized
one of the co-conspirator’s GO2BANK accounts to transfer $7,500.00 to her
Artymar Collection/Artymar of Fashion business account.
31. The investigation revealed that Martin sent co-conspiring
clientele photographs of money order purchases that were purchased with
their newly acquired bank cards. The investigation revealed that Martin did
this to appear transparent to her clientele about how she paid herself their
tax preparation fees.
32. The investigation revealed that Martin’s Apple iPhones contained
identifying documents for more than one hundred (100) co-conspirators,
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photographs and videos of bulk United States currency, checks, cashier’s
checks, and money orders.
33. The investigation revealed that between 2021 and 2022, Martin
used several financial institutions, including Bank of America, to commit
money laundering and/or conduct an unlicensed money transmitting
business. Martin instructed co-conspirators to transfer funds to her Bank of
America business account and personal account to satisfy payment for her
services on their behalf in conducting various financial fraud schemes.
Martin also instructed co-conspirators to compensate her via peer-to-peer
banking applications. A review of Martin’s Bank of America records revealed
that co-conspirators made direct transfers to Martin’s personal and business
accounts and revealed that Martin transferred money received from co-
conspirators on peer-to-peer banking platforms to her personal and business
accounts between 2021 and 2022.
34. Texas Workforce Commission records revealed that Martin
earned a total income of less than $24,000.00 between January 2020 and
September 2021, and a total income of $0.00 between October 2021 and
September 2022. Martin’s financial records revealed that one of the bank
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accounts that she used to facilitate the PPP loan scheme received more than
$430,000.00 in deposits between February 2021 and July 2021. The
investigation revealed that Martin used the same financial account to
facilitate receipt of funds related to the tax fraud conspiracy and received
more than $56,000.00 in deposits during the month of July 2022.
35. Based on information learned during the investigation, to include
evidence seized during BPD’s July 2022 encounter with Martin, admissions
made by MARTIN during a BPD interview, information and data sourced
from Martin’s cellular telephones, and information sourced from Martin’s
financial records, there is sufficient reason to believe that the $32,381.00
seized from Martin is forfeitable because of its relation to a financial fraud
criminal conspiracy.
BASIS FOR FORFEITURE
36. The defendant property, $32,381.00 in United States currency is
subject to forfeiture pursuant to 18 U.S.C. §§ 981(a)(1)(A), 981(a)(1)(C), and
981(a)(1)(D) because it constitutes property involved in transactions or
attempted transactions in violation of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1956, 1957, and 1960
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and/or constitutes proceeds traceable to violations of 18 U.S.C. §§ 1028, 1031,
1341, 1343, 1344, 1952, 1956, 1957, and 1960.
37. The defendant property has been seized and is in the custody of
U.S. Customs and Border Protection, a Department of Homeland Security
component.
POTENTIAL CLAIMANT
38. The potential claimant to the defendant property is:
Artisha Gabriella Martin
13031 Ponders Quarters Ln
Amite, Louisiana 70422
CLAIM FOR RELIEF
39. The United States respectfully requests that the Court forfeit the
defendant property to the United States, award costs and disbursements in
this action to the United States, and order any other relief that the Court
deems appropriate.
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Respectfully submitted,
BRIT FEATHERSTON
UNITED STATES ATTORNEY
/s/ Robert Austin Wells
ROBERT AUSTIN WELLS
Assistant United States Attorney
Texas State Bar No. 24033327
110 N. College, Suite 700
Tyler, Texas 75702
Tel: (903) 590-1400
Fax: (903) 590-1437
Email: robert.wells3@usdoj.gov
ATTORNEYS FOR THE UNITED
STATES
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VERIFICATION PURSUANT TO 28 U.S.C. §_ 1746
I, Quintin Moses, hereby state that:
1. I am a Senior Special Agent with the United States Homeland
Security Investigations.
2. I have read this Complaint, and the information contained herein
is true and correct to the best of my knowledge.
3. The information contained in this Complaint comes from the
official files and records of the United States, statements from
other law enforcement officers, and my investigation of the case.
I state and verify under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true
and correct.
Digitally signed by QUINTIN R
QUINTIN R MOSES
Date: 2023.01 .31 09:15:06
MOSES -06'00'
Quintin Moses
Special Agent
United States Homeland Security
Investigations
Dated: 1/31/2023
UNITED STATES V. $32,381.00 IN UNITED STATES C URRENC Y:
VERIFIED COMPLAINT FOR FORFEITURE I N REM PAGE 17
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