The federal government has busted an international cash-delivery scheme in metro Detroit, where three men have been charged with secretly funneling $88 million to Yemen, China and other countries by creating phony businesses whose only purpose was to move cash overseas.

And they were careful not to get caught, prosecutors allege, saying the men never disclosed where the money came from, where it was going or who "its true beneficiaries" were.

According to an indictment filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, Fahd Samaha, 45, and Maged Alsabahi, 29, and others ran a scheme from 2013 through 2015. They created multiple fake businesses by using the addresses of vacant buildings, storefronts or residences and used "straw business owners" or "fronts" to help send $63 million to various countries, including Yemen and China. 

In a separate indictment, Omar Alhalmi, 38, is charged with running a similar scheme, accused of wiring more than $22.3 million to Yemen and other countries by using 13 phony business bank accounts between 2011-16. He had to create many businesses because the banks, the indictment said, continued to shut down the accounts associated with his large cash money transfers.

Here, according to the indictments, is how the scheme worked:

The defendants accepted cash from individuals in Michigan and from other states.

Then, they created shell businesses and opened business bank accounts, which were used to deposit the money they had collected. The money would then be wired overseas.

In many instances, prosecutors allege, Samaha and Alsabahi recruited others to act as "fronts" for the businesses and for opening the bank accounts. To persuade people to act as fronts, they used various methods, including paying the "fronts" a flat fee or a percentage of the money that was deposited or wired.

Prosecutors allege the men essentially ran an unlicensed business and charged users of the business a fee for their services.

Alsabahi, Samaha and Alhalmi are charged with causing the filing of a false currency transaction report. Essentially, prosecutors allege, because the cash being deposited did not originate from a legitimate business, this caused numerous banks to file false currency transaction reports with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network. Under law, banks are required to file such reports anytime a financial transaction exceeds $10,000. 

The defendants are also charged with operating unlicensed money transmitting businesses. Both crimes are punishable by a maximum punishment of five years in prison.

Ayad is scheduled to make an initial court appearance on Thursday in U.S. District Court. His attorney, Nabih Ayad, was not available for comment.

The court docket did not list the names of attorneys for the other two defendants. 

AFP.