Middlesex County Man Ran Bogus Investment Scheme, Gets 2 Years In Prison

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — An Iselin man was sentenced to 27 months in prison for defrauding victims in South Korea through a bogus investment scheme, U.S. Attorney Alina Habba announced.

Mohammed Rahman, 64, previously pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Georgette Castner to one county of conspiracy to commit wire fraud.

Federal prosecutors say Rahman ran a company called Caltech Trading Corporation, through which he purported to buy and sell commodities. Rahman and his partners in South Korea persuaded approximately 60 victims in that nation to invest funds he said Caltech would use to buy $1 million of sugar from Brazil, which Caltech would then sell for a substantial profit.

Rahman and his associates told investors they would receive a one hundred percent return on their investment.

In reality, the funds were wired into Rahman’s bank account and used to pay his personal expenses, including the mortgage on his Iselin home.

In addition to the prison term, Hon. Castner sentenced Rahman to two years of supervised release and to pay $1,393,200 in restitution to the victims. Judge Castner ordered forfeiture of $1,000,000, constituting proceeds derived from the conspiracy.

This case was investigated by the IRS, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, working with the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency and the Seoul Central District Prosecutor’s Office.