Source: US FBI
Defendant allegedly laundered stolen funds through shell companies and real estate
BOSTON – A Leominster man was indicted yesterday by a federal grand jury in Boston in connection with an alleged scheme to steal $1,355,863 by depositing a forged tax refund check and then laundering the money using cashier’s checks payable to shell companies.
Jesse El-Ghoul, 31, was indicted on one count of theft of government funds, one count of bank fraud and four counts of money laundering. El-Ghoul was arrested and charged by criminal complaint on June 6, 2025.
According to the charging documents, El-Ghoul owned and operated Affordable Motor Group in Leominster, Mass., and owed back taxes for the business. On March 29, 2024, El-Ghoul allegedly deposited a tax refund check for $1,344,863, payable to Affordable Motor Group into his business bank account. It is alleged that the check had been issued by the U.S. Treasury to a Canadian company, based on its 2021 tax return, and the check had been forged and altered to be payable to El-Ghoul’s company.
In the days after depositing the check, El-Ghoul returned to the bank and bought cashier’s checks for $235,280, $223,591, $202,643, and $425,000 payable to shell companies and to a law firm in connection with a third-party real estate transaction, in eastern Massachusetts.
The charge of theft of government funds provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of bank fraud provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charges of money laundering each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the amount of money involved in the laundering transactions, whichever is greater. Sentences are imposed by a federal district court judge based upon the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and statutes which govern the determination of a sentence in a criminal case.
United States Attorney Leah B. Foley; Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division; Thomas Demeo, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation, Boston Field Office; Michael Carpenter, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration, OIG; and Ketty Larco-Ward, Inspector in Charge of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service’s Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kriss Basil, Deputy Chief of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.
The details contained in the charging documents are allegations. The defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.