Date: Oct. 16, 2024 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov CAMDEN, NJ — The New Jersey owner of Galaxia International Inc., a check casher and money service business, admitted filing more than $325 million in false currency transaction reports and operating and aiding and abetting an unlicensed money transmitting business, U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger announced today. Ali Hassanein, of Kearny, New Jersey, pleaded guilty before Chief U.S. District Judge Renée Marie Bumb in Camden federal court on Oct. 15, 2024, to an information charging him with conspiracy to cause a financial institution to file false currency transaction reports and operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business. “The Bank Secrecy Act imposes important requirements on financial institutions, including by requiring them and their executives to file accurate reports with the government concerning certain currency transactions,” U.S. Attorney Philip R. Sellinger said. “These requirements play a vital role in helping law enforcement prevent, detect, and stop illicit activity. Ali Hassanein admitted that he and Galaxia flouted these requirements, which undermined the financial system and made Galaxia an easy target for bad actors. My office will continue to work to ensure that financial institutions who shirk their obligations and facilitate illicit activity are held accountable.” According to documents filed in this case and statements made in court: From 2019 through February 2023, Hassanein owned and operated Galaxia International Services Inc. (Galaxia), a check casher and money service business that operated in New Jersey and other states. Under the Bank Secrecy Act and related regulations, Galaxia was required to file currency transaction reports (CTRs) for transactions involving more than $10,000 in currency. CTRs are required to list, among other things, the location of the transactions and the names of the people and entities physically conducting the transactions. Hassanein conducted more than $325 million in reportable check cashing transactions for a conspirator in exchange for a fee. But Hassanein caused Galaxia to file thousands of CTRs for those transactions that contained material misstatements and omissions. For example, the CTRs falsely stated that all of the transactions had occurred at Galaxia’s East Orange, New Jersey, location – where Galaxia had a license to conduct check cashing transactions – when in fact they had occurred in Jersey City, New Jersey, or Kearny, New Jersey, where Galaxia was not licensed to conduct check cashing transactions. All of the CTRs failed to list the conspirator as the conductor of the transactions. Hassanein also aided and abetted the conspirator’s operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business The charges of conspiring to cause a financial institution to file false currency transaction reports and operating and aiding and abetting the operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business each carry a statutory maximum prison sentence of five years and a statutory maximum fine of the greatest of $250,000, twice the gross amount of any pecuniary gain that any persons derived from the offense, or twice the gross amount of any pecuniary loss sustained by any victims of the offense, whichever is greatest. Sentencing is scheduled for April 2, 2025. U.S. Attorney Sellinger credited special agents and task force officers of the IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), under the direction of Acting Special Agent in Charge Jenifer L. Piovesan in Newark; special agents and task force officers with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Frank A. Tarentino III in New York; and special agents of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation – Office of Inspector General, New York Division, under the direction of Special Agent in Charge Patricia Tarasca, with the investigation leading to today’s guilty plea. He also thanked the Justice Department’s Money Laundering and Asset Recovery Section (MLARS) and Morristown Police Department for their assistance in the investigation. IRS-CI is the criminal investigative arm of the IRS, responsible for conducting financial crime investigations, including tax fraud, narcotics trafficking, money-laundering, public corruption, healthcare fraud, identity theft and more. IRS-CI special agents are the only federal law enforcement agents with investigative jurisdiction over violations of the Internal Revenue Code, obtaining a more than a 90 percent federal conviction rate. The agency has 20 field offices located across the U.S. and 12 attaché posts abroad.
