Summary

On July 2, 2015, Moaz Kadesh, former foreman and office manager for ASAP Relocations, Inc. (ASAP), San Jose, California, entered a plea of No Contest to insurance fraud in Superior Court,  Santa Clara County, California, related to a Household Goods (HHG) fraud scheme. 

In March 2013, a grand jury in Santa Clara County, California, charged Kadesh and seven other ASAP officials with conspiracy to commit grand theft, extortion, money laundering, tax fraud, and insurance fraud. The charges were related to a scheme to defraud customers who had hired ASAP to move their household goods.  Kadesh admitted that he falsely certified insurance reports and  under-reported  ASAP’s insurance premiums and payroll taxes.  In July 2014, Wayne Allen, ASAP Sales Manager pleaded guilty and was sentenced to perform 300 hours of community service and ordered to pay $4,200 in restitution.  In August 2014, Adalinda Reyna-Mendoza, ASAP Customer Service and Dispatch Manager pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 6 months incarceration and ordered to pay restitution to victims totaling over $200,000.  The five remaining defendants are currently fugitives and are believed to have fled to Israel: Roni Hayon, ASAP owner and Chief Executive Officer; Adii Therese Karter, Hayon's wife; Elazar Nisanov, ASAP Foreman; Ido OR, ASAP Foreman and Office Manager; and Noam Israeli, ASAP Foreman and Office Manager.

OIG has participated in several operations in conjunction with investigations of household goods moving companies that have had numerous complaints filed against them for holding customers' goods hostage until illegally inflated charges were paid.  In January 2010, an OIG undercover agent arranged for a move with ASAP from Nevada to California and received a telephone quote of $1,461. After the goods were loaded, the agent was informed that the move would cost $3,138, more than twice the original quote.  Of the $1,677 in overages, $900 was for packing materials. 

We are conducting this investigation with the District Attorney's Offices from Santa Clara County, Monterey County, and Alameda County; and the Federal Bureau of Investigation; with assistance from the Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration.