Mexican Man Indicted for Using a Counterfeit Foreign Passport to Deceive American Victims and Launder Money

LAS VEGAS - A federal grand jury returned a 20-count indictment today charging a Mexican national, who is illegally present in the United States, for allegedly using a counterfeit passport as identification to open a bank account and launder proceeds from online vehicle sales.

"Today's federal indictment dismantles a sophisticated car theft ring of swindlers who targeted vintage vehicles and exploited our financial systems for illicit profit," said First Assistant United States Attorney Sigal Chattah for the District of Nevada. "The Department of Justice and our federal law enforcement partners will use every tool at our disposal-from advanced cyber tracing to asset forfeiture-to disrupt this organized theft ring, secure justice for the victims, and ensure that these swindlers face the full weight of federal prosecution."

"Criminals who hide behind fake identities, shell companies and online scams to steal from hardworking people should know they are not beyond the reach of law enforcement," said Jonathan Sherwin, Deputy Special Agent in Charge for Homeland Security Investigations Las Vegas. "Through the Homeland Security Task Force, HSI Las Vegas and our partners will continue to follow the money, expose these schemes and hold fraudsters accountable wherever their victims may be."

According to allegations in the indictment, Jose Carlos Dalli Castro, also known as "Julio Castro Lopez," "Mario Mejia Rojas," "Alberto Silva Valdez," Mike Boris Oganov," and "Amer Daoud Panou," used a counterfeit Spanish passport to open a personal checking account with the intention to launder money through the bank account. As part of the wire fraud scheme, Dalli Castro advertised vehicles for sale online which either did not exist or to which he had no ownership interest. He would set up shell corporations and bank accounts in the names of those shell corporations to appear legitimate. Dalli Castro would wire funds from buyers to the accounts in the name of a shell corporation. He would then quickly drain the bank account and abscond with the wired funds never intending to deliver the advertised vehicle. Victims were from Pennsylvania, California, Louisiana, Ohio, New York, and Massachusetts.

Dalli Castro is charged with one count of false use of a passport; seven counts of wire fraud; nine counts of money laundering; and three counts of fraud and misuse of visas, permits, and other documents. If convicted, the statutory maximum penalty is 10 years' imprisonment. Arraignment has been scheduled for August 21, 2026. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

This case was investigated by the Homeland Security Task Force consisting of special agents with the FBI, HSI, ATF, IRS-CI, the Las Vegas Metro Police Department, the United States Marshals Service, and Nevada Gaming Commission. The case is being prosecuted by the District of Nevada.

This case is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of U.S. law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. The Las Vegas HSTF comprises agents and officers from federal, state, and local law enforcement, with the prosecution being led by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Nevada.

An indictment is merely an allegation. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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