2 VA Men Plead Guilty To Importing Fake IDs From China: Court Report

ALEXANDRIA, VA — A 31-year-old Fairfax man was one of two people who pleaded guilty last Wednesday to importing, manufacturing, and trafficking fake identity documents from China, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

Tarik Sayed Metwally and 28-year-old Arya Ebrahimi of Gainesville admitted in federal court that they had imported counterfeited drivers licenses and identification cards to the U.S. via various websites, according to court documents. They used various websites, including apexsfakes.com and fakeyourdrank.com, to sell the fake documents.

Customers used online platforms like Zelle to make payments to bank accounts Ebrahimi opened under the names of Top Notch IT Services, Inc., and Apex Tech Services, Inc., according to court documents. He then used a fake North Carolina drivers license to open a box in Gainesville, where he received the fake IDs from China. Metwally did the same thing, using a fake Illinois drivers license and a box in Vienna.

The fake documents were sold to customers across the U.S. While some of the customers purchased the cards to appear 21-years-0ld or older, foreign nationals and people with fraud and firearms convictions also bought the fraudulent IDs, according to court documents.

Ebrahimi and Metwally's criminal enterprise lasted until at least July 2020. In addition, Ebrahimi transferred $29,736.83 in criminally derived property, according to authorities.

Metwally is due back in court on Sept. 4 for sentencing, when he'll face up to 15 years for trafficking in false identification documents. Ebrahimi has a Sept. 18 sentencing date. He also faces up to 15 years in prison for the fake ID trafficking charge, as well as 10 years for taking part in monetary transactions in property derived from specified unlawful activity, court documents say.