Maryland Man Indicted On Multiple Fraud Counts For Defrauding An Orchard Park Aerospace Company

CONTACT: Barbara Burns
PHONE: (716) 843-5817
FAX #: (716) 551-3051

BUFFALO, N.Y. - U.S. Attorney James P. Kennedy, Jr. announced today that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment charging Amir Jahed, a/k/a Amir Jahedmotlagh, 39, of Montgomery Villaga, Maryland, with 12 counts of mail fraud. The charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Maura K. O’Donnell, who is handling the case, stated that from 2010 to July 19, 2018, the defendant was an employee of Cobham Mission Systems, a company headquartered in Orchard Park, NY that was engaged in the development, delivery, and support of aerospace and defense technology and systems. Cobham also had an office located in Westminster, Maryland. As part of his employment, Jahed was assigned company credit cards (purchase cards) and was authorized to make certain purchases on behalf of Cobham for its business operations.

The indictment alleges that the defendant used his purchase cards to conduct approximately 600 unauthorized transactions. Jahed claimed that the transactions were purchases of parts for Cobham’s business operations. In truth and in fact, the defendant didn’t purchase any parts for Cobham, rather, he used the purchase cards to direct funds into accounts controlled by him, resulting in a financial loss to Cobham. After Jahed used a purchase card fraudulently to obtain funds, he mailed fraudulent invoices to Cobham headquarters in support of the fraudulent transactions to give the appearance that the purchases were made to support Cobham’s business operations.

The defendant was arraigned before U.S. Magistrate Judge Michael J. Roemer and released on conditions.

The indictment is the result of an investigation by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Buffalo Office, under the direction of Special Agent-in-Charge Gary Loeffert.

The fact that a defendant has been charged with a crime is merely an accusation and the defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.  

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