Owner and Two Foremen of Interstate Moving Company Ordered to Pay $670,000 in Restitution to Victims of Household Goods Moving Scam

Office of Inspector General

Title:	Owner and Two Foremen of Interstate Moving Company Ordered to Pay $670,000 in Restitution to Victims of Household Goods Moving Scam
Date:	September 02, 2005
Type:	Investigation
Summary:	On September 2, Erik Deri, former owner of Nationwide Moving Systems, LLC (Nationwide), Woodinville, WA, was ordered to pay $400,000 and two ex-foremen, Yosef Nahum and Yuval Derei, were ordered to pay $200,000 and $70,000 respectively by a U.S. District Court judge in Tacoma, WA for their parts in a scheme to defraud Nationwide customers. In December 2004, all the defendants were convicted by jury on charges of extortion and conspiracy in connection with a scheme to provide low-ball moving estimates and then hold goods hostage until customers paid inflated prices. The case involved over 50 customers with Nationwide profiting in excess of $1 million. In April 2005, all three defendants were sentenced to jail terms ranging from 30 months to seven years. The investigation was conducted jointly with the Immigrations and Customs and Customs Enforcement, and the Washington State Attorney General’s office, with assistance from FMCSA.