Alexandria, Va. – In a significant development, two men have pled guilty to importing, manufacturing, and trafficking fraudulent identity documents.
According to court documents, Arya Ebrahimi, 28, of Gainesville, and Tarik Sayed Metwally, 31, of Fairfax, were involved in importing high-quality counterfeit driver’s licenses and identification cards from China to the United States. Ebrahimi and Metwally operated an online enterprise, selling these counterfeit IDs through various websites, including apexsfakes.com and fakeyourdrank.com.
To facilitate their operation, Ebrahimi opened bank accounts in the names of Top Notch IT Services, Inc., and Apex Tech Services, Inc., allowing customers to deposit payments through platforms like Zelle. They used fraudulent IDs and aliases to receive shipments of fake IDs from China. Ebrahimi rented a box in Manassas under the name Brian Padilla with a fake Illinois driver’s license, and another box in Gainesville under the name Jordan Kalan with a fake North Carolina driver’s license. Similarly, Metwally rented a box in Fairfax under the name Omar Mustafa and a box in Vienna under the name Ahmed Mohammed, both using fake Illinois driver’s licenses.
The counterfeit documents were sold to individuals across the country. Customers included those wishing to appear 21 years or older, foreign nationals, individuals with criminal histories involving fraud and firearms convictions, and even one person who used a fake ID to operate a scheme to sell stolen vehicles. Ebrahimi and Metwally created or obtained thousands of these fraudulent IDs, continuing their illegal activities until at least July 2020. On August 8, 2022, Ebrahimi engaged in a financial transaction involving $29,736.83 derived from these illegal activities.
Ebrahimi is scheduled for sentencing on September 18 and faces up to 15 years in prison for trafficking false identification documents and 10 years for engaging in monetary transactions involving property derived from unlawful activities. Metwally’s sentencing is set for September 4, where he faces up to 15 years for trafficking false identification documents. However, actual sentences for federal crimes are typically less than the maximum penalties, as the federal district court judge will consider the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors before determining the sentences.
