News Releases
THREE INDICTED IN SCHEME TO SHIP STOLEN LUXURY VEHICLES
April 27, 2005
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney for the Northern District of Georgia, and Kenneth A. Smith, Special Agent In Charge, Immigration & Customs Enforcement, U.S. Department of Homeland Security, announce that a federal grand jury has returned an indictment against TED ISEGHOHI EDWARDS 44, a/k/a “Steve Poncho,” “Prince Lewis,” and “Dee;” OGOEGBUNAM UMENYIORA , 30, a/k/a “Jason Williams,” and “J.R.;” and GREGORY SHIELDS, 28, a/k/a “Greg,” all of Atlanta, Georgia, on charges of conspiracy to export stolen vehicles and to transport them across state and country lines. According to Nahmias and the indictment:
Beginning in or about May 2002, and continuing through in or about January 2004, EDWARDS, UMENYIORA and SHIELDS conspired to operate a stolen vehicle ring that shipped luxury vehicles out of the United States. SHIELDS acquired vehicle identification numbers (VIN’s), and used that information to produce fraudulent ownership documents for those vehicles. SHIELDS then recruited co-conspirators to fraudulently present those documents to dealerships to obtain replacement keys for the vehicles and to use the replacement keys to steal the vehicles.
The indictment, originally filed on April 17, 2005 alleges EDWARDS, OGOEGBUNAM and others loaded the stolen vehicles into rented shipping containers at Marietta Collision Center, 456 Roswell Street, Marietta, Georgia, an auto repair shop owned by EDWARDS. The defendants also used the containers at Trans Volta American, Inc., 1143 Willingham Drive, East Point, Georgia. EDWARDS hired trucking companies to transport the rented shipping containers containing stolen motor vehicles to the Port of Savannah for export to Le Havre, France, with Nigeria to be the final destination. Shipping and exporting documents falsely listed the contents of the containers as “refrigerators,” “floor carpet,” “computers and printers,” “air conditioners,” or “auto parts.” The indictment alleges that from May 2002 through December 2002, the conspirators stole and prepared for overseas shipment: two black 2003 Hummer H2's, a maroon 2004 Hummer H2, one white Hummer H2, and two silver Cadillac Escalades. All but one of the vehicles were stolen from the metro Atlanta area.
EDWARDS and SHIELDS have been arrested and are now in custody.
UMENIYORA is being sought by law enforcement and is believed to be outside the United States.
Members of the public are reminded that the indictment contains only allegations. A defendant is presumed innocent of the charges and it will be the government's burden to prove a defendant's guilt beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.
The case is being investigated by Special Agents of Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE).
Assistant United States Attorney Bernita Malloy is prosecuting the case.
For further information please contact David E. Nahmias, United States Attorney or F. Gentry Shelnutt, Chief, Criminal Division, through Patrick Crosby, Public Affairs Officer, U.S. Attorney's Office, at (404) 581-6016. The Internet address for the HomePage for the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Georgia is www.usdoj.gov/usao/gan.