Brooklyn Moving Company Scandal: Employee Gets 24 Months for Customer Fraud!
Andre Prince, an employee of a moving company based in Brooklyn, has been sentenced to 24 months in federal prison for his involvement in a fraudulent scheme. This scheme involved holding customers’ belongings hostage until they paid inflated fees.
The sentencing occurred on Wednesday in a federal court in Brooklyn, with United States Circuit Judge Denny Chin presiding. In December 2023, after a week-long trial, Prince was found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud. In addition to his prison term, Prince was ordered to forfeit $100,000.
The sentencing was announced by Breon Peace, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York; Christie M. Curtis, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s New York Field Office; and Christopher A. Scharf, Special Agent in Charge of the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Office of Inspector General in the Northeastern Region.
According to United States Attorney Peace, Prince manipulated customers into using the moving companies he was involved with and then held their belongings hostage.
He demanded significantly higher payments and threatened to auction off their possessions unless they met these fraudulent demands. Peace emphasized that Prince would now be moving to a federal prison as a consequence of his actions.
The fraudulent scheme, which lasted from January 2017 to August 2020, affected more than 800 victims. Prince, who was a senior sales representative, worked alongside customer service representative Kristy Mak under the supervision of Yakov Moroz.
Moroz managed several moving companies operating under various names, including Great Moving USA, Green Movers, New City Moves, Cross Country Moving and Storage, and Movers Consulting.
The defendants attracted customers through fake online reviews and low-cost moving estimates. However, once the customers signed contracts and their belongings were loaded onto trucks, they were hit with additional fees that often doubled or tripled the original quote.
Customers’ attempts to reach sales associates for clarification were unsuccessful. Instead, they were faced with drivers who threatened to withhold their possessions unless the inflated fees were paid.
During the trial, it was revealed that Prince had laughed at memes sent by a colleague depicting their practice of cutting off communication with customers on a moving day.
The fraudulent activities led to Prince and his co-conspirators wrongfully obtaining more than $3 million from their victims. Kristy Mak, who was convicted of the same wire fraud conspiracy charge as Prince, is currently awaiting sentencing. Yakov Moroz, who was also charged, absconded while on pre-trial release and remains a fugitive.