Two Sacramento men—Ayman Alaaraj, 48, and Ahmad Nassar, 38—have been indicted on 17 counts for allegedly running a sophisticated fraud scheme targeting elderly women, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
The brothers-in-law face bank fraud and aggravated identity theft charges. Nassar was additionally charged with access device fraud.
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According to court documents, Nassar gained access to the victims’ bank accounts by exploiting various methods, including porting one victim’s phone number to bypass dual-factor authentication. With Alaaraj’s help at times, Nassar allegedly drained the accounts, leaving over $794,000 in unpaid credit card debt.
The DOJ said Nassar funneled the stolen funds through accounts set up in the victims’ names, and more than $100,000 passed through Alaaraj’s businesses—Balance Bookkeeping, Tax and Notary and Atheer Investments.
The pair allegedly used the money for ATM withdrawals, personal checks, Zelle and Western Union transactions, credit card payments, online gambling, and even the purchase of a Mercedes.
Nassar has a prior 2019 conviction for possessing 15+ access devices, aggravated identity theft, and being a felon in possession of a firearm. He was released in March 2021 but was arrested again on Feb. 7, 2024, for allegedly violating his supervised release.
If convicted, both men face up to 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine for each bank fraud count, plus a mandatory two-year sentence and additional fines for identity theft.
