Mastermind behind nationwide moving scam headed to prison

FLORIDA – A South Florida man has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison for a nationwide interstate moving fraud scheme, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Florida (USAO) has announced.

Last week, Arvaham Zano, 36, of Hollywood, was sentenced to eight years in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. He was also ordered to forfeit $334,499.73 and pay $2,877,497.35 in restitution, joint and several with co-defendant Sofein Mlayah, 28, of North Miami Beach.

Joint and several is a legal term meaning Zano and Mlayah share all rights and responsibilities equally, and if the other is unable to pay, the other becomes responsible for that partner’s share

The sentence comes after Zano’s guilty plea to wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen property, and failure to give up possession of household goods.

The plea was in connection with his role in operating an interstate moving company scam that included inflating the costs of clients’ interstate moves and thereafter taking possession of client household belongings, failing to deliver the goods as promised, and abandoning them throughout the nation at undisclosed self-storage facilities, often resulting in the total loss of client property, said the USAO.

According to court documents, Zano operated two companies, including Zano Moving and Storage, LLC, and acquired jobs through various moving brokers. These brokers would negotiate a moving service fee with a client, then subcontract the moving job to one of Zano’s companies.

Reportedly, with the subcontracts in hand, Zano and his drivers, including Mlayah, traveled to the job locations – often on dates different from the ones originally scheduled and sometimes late at night – and loaded the household items to be moved into a truck.

Zano or Mlayah would allegedly tell clients they had more household items than the moving broker had originally estimated. Then, with the items already in the truck, they demanded more money to begin the move – sometimes two to three times more than the original estimate said the USAO.

If the clients refused, they are said to have risked losing their deposits and belongings.

According to prosecutors, Zano and Mlayah often argued with the victims and coerced them into paying more for their moves, and on other occasions, Zano and Mlayah would not start loading the trucks until they received the higher fees, loaded the trucks but never delivered the items, or charged the victims bogus storage fees.

Most of the victim’s household items have never been recovered, said the USAO.

On June 6, Mlayah was sentenced to 30 months in prison for his role in the scheme.

U.S. Attorney Markenzy Lapointe for the Southern District of Florida, Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey B. Veltri of the FBI, Miami Field Office, and Special Agent in Charge Todd A. Damiani of the Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General (“DOT-OIG”), Southern Region, announced the sentence imposed by U.S. District Court Judge Raag Singhal.

FBI Miami and DOT-OIG investigated this case with assistance from Sunny Isles Beach Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Anton prosecuted it. Assistant U.S. Attorney Emily Stone is handling asset forfeiture.