CHICAGO — An Orland Park businessman has been indicted on federal charges for allegedly orchestrating a pair of fraud schemes that netted him more than $4 million, the U.S. Attorney's Office said Friday.
An indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Chicago charges Raed Naser with 11 counts of wire fraud and four counts of money laundering.
Naser owned a freight transport company based in Orland Park. According to the indictment, Naser engaged in two wire fraud schemes—one involving the submission of false invoices from Naser’s company for nonexistent freight shipping and the other involving bakery franchises that Naser sold to an unsuspecting buyer after fraudulently inflating their value, prosecutors said.
The money laundering charges accuse Naser of laundering the proceeds from the fraud schemes by, among other things, purchasing a Lamborghini Huracan, a BMW M8 Gran Coupe, and a Cadillac Escalade.
Naser, 41, of Crown Point, Indiana, pleaded not guilty at his arraignment on Wednesday before U.S. Magistrate Judge M. David Weisman in federal court in Chicago.
A status hearing is now set for June 10.
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