4 Edison Men Used NY Diamond District To Illegally Transfer More Than $600M: Feds

EDISON, NJ – Four Edison men who work in New York City’s Diamond District were charged with illegally processing more than $600 million through unlicensed money-transmitting businesses, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said.

Raj Vaidya, 26; Rakesh Vaidya, 51; Shrey Vaidya, 23; and Neel Patel, 26, of Edison, New Jersey; along with Youssef Janfar, aka “Joe Rodeo,” 57, of Great Neck, New York, are each charged by complaint with one count of operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business.

According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court:

Since 2019, Raj Vaidya, Rakesh Vaidya, Shrey Vaidya, and Patel have operated numerous purported diamond, gold, and jewelry companies in New York City’s Diamond District, including Karats & Carats, Diamspark LGD LLC, Royal Diamonds LLC, Raj Gold and Diamond LLC, Royal Arya Jewellery Inc, and Raj Gold and Diamond Inc.

The men used these entities as fronts to conduct hundreds of millions of dollars in illegal financial transactions for customers – including converting cash to checks or wire transfers – in exchange for substantial fees, court documents said.

At times, they moved millions of dollars in cash in a single day. None of their companies were registered as money transmitting businesses with New York, New Jersey, or the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN), Sellinger said.

The charge of operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an illegal money transmitting business carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a fine of $250,000, or twice the gross amount of any pecuniary gain that any persons derived from the offense or of any pecuniary loss sustained by any victims of the offense, whichever is greatest.

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