Bethesda Lawyer Indicted In $12.5M Somali Fraud Scheme

BETHESDA, MD — A Bethesda lawyer has been indicted on charges that he conspired to fraudulently take more than $12.5 million in Somali government assets from financial institutions.

Jeremy Schulman, 45, faces a slew of charges — including wire fraud, mail fraud, and money laundering — in connection to the scheme, according to an 11-count indictment.

The indictment, returned Wednesday by a federal grand jury, alleges that Schulman conspired with others from 2009 to 2014 to fraudulently obtain money and gold belonging to the Central Bank of Somalia. The foreign assets, worth hundreds of millions of dollars, were reportedly held in accounts that had been frozen for decades due to war and political instability in the country.

Schulman executed the scheme by presenting forged and fraudulent documents that misrepresented his power to act on behalf of the Somali government to banks and other financial institutions, the indictment read.

Schulman's law firm, which wasn't named in the indictment, retained about $3.3 million of the Somali money for fees and expenses, court documents said.

They also said he personally received hundreds of thousands of dollars of additional compensation from the firm.

If convicted, Schulman faces up to 30 years in federal prison for conspiracy to commit wire fraud, mail fraud, and bank fraud. He also faces up to 10 years in federal prison for each count of money laundering.

Schulman is scheduled to appear in U.S. District Court in Greenbelt on Monday, Dec. 7.