| A Belgian national was extradited from Morocco to the United States last week to face charges for his role in an email scam that used counterfeit cashier’s checks to defraud charities and law firms.
Aref Zokita Said, 36, of Belgium, was charged in an indictment unsealed last week with wire fraud and conspiracy to commit wire fraud. Said was arrested in APril 2018 in Morocco and extradited to Boston. He was detained following an initial appearance in federal court.
According to the indictment, beginning no later than August 2013, Said and his co-conspirators defrauded law firms and nonprofits, including charities, by sending them fraudulent cashier’s checks and convincing them to wire money to members of the scheme, with the false assurance that the fake checks would cover the expense.
Once the checks were discovered to be fraudulent, the victims’ bank accounts were debited, and the victims were left with thousands of dollars in losses, having unwittingly forwarded their own money to a member of the conspiracy.
