Brothers Sentenced in Luxury Car Fraud Scheme

Hussein Qasim, 34, and his brother Ibrahim Qasim, 29, were sentenced to 57 months and 45 months in prison, respectively, for their roles in a multi-million dollar money laundering conspiracy targeting luxury car dealerships. The brothers, residing in Lexington, Kentucky, participated in a scheme where co-conspirators outside the U.S. impersonated dealership employees to deceive dealerships into purchasing vehicles that were never delivered. They laundered over $6 million from at least seven dealerships between June 2022 and December 2023, receiving payments in bank accounts they controlled before transferring the funds through complex transactions, often involving cryptocurrency. Each brother has been ordered to pay $3,274,690 in restitution and will serve three years of supervised release after their prison terms. The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Secret Service and prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Kate Dieruf. U.S. District Judge Karen Caldwell emphasized the seriousness of the offense in her ruling.