Downtown Dallas Newsstand Operator Pleads Guilty to Cashing $16M in Fraudulently Obtained Treasury Checks

A McKinney man has pleaded guilty to fraudulently obtaining and cashing more than $16 million in U.S. Treasury checks out of his downtown Dallas newsstand. Moiz Mumtaz Ali, 36, pleaded guilty last week to one count of failure to develop, implement and maintain an anti-money laundering program, U.S. Attorney John Parker for the Northern District of Texas said in a prepared statement. Ali is accused of negotiating and cashing about 3,400 U.S. Treasury checks adding up to about $16.6 million between December 2010 and June 2012.During that time, he operated and managed Gateway Newsstands in the 700 block of North Pearl Street, which had a convenience and check-cashing store and was registered as a money service business that could cash checks for people, officials said. Most of the checks he cashed were addressed to people with out-of-state addresses, and the majority had been obtained illegally, such as checks that had been stolen or were based on fraudulent federal tax returns, officials allege. Officials allege Ali did not require or keep copies of identification documents of the person cashing the checks or the people whose names were on the checks he accepted and cashed. When he did keep records, he reportedly failed to verify whether the documents were real. One of Ali's responsibilities as the newsstand operator was to develop and maintain an effective program to prevent money laundering, but he failed to follow requirements and didn't take steps to prevent his store from being used launder money, officials said.Ali's sentencing is scheduled for October. He faces up to 10 years in federal prison and a $500,000 fine.  Continue reading...