Portland Man Pleads Guilty to Cyberstalking and Anonymous Telephone Harassment

PORTLAND, Ore.—On June 24, 2019, Bob Ibenne Ugwa, 50, of Portland, pleaded guilty to cyberstalking and anonymous telecommunications harassment after making repeated threatening and harassing telephone calls to seven individuals over an eight-year period.

According to court documents, between 2011 and 2018, Ugwa made thousands of anonymous, interstate telephone calls from Oregon to seven victims in Pennsylvania. In these calls, Ugwa threatened or harassed each victim by breathing heavily, moaning, and saying sexually explicit things. Telephone records were used to confirm Ugwa’s threatening calls. Each of the victims made multiple unsuccessful attempts to stop Ugwa from calling, citing substantial emotional distress.

Ugwa faces a maximum sentence of five years in prison, a $250,000 fine and three years of supervised release. He will be sentenced on September 10, 2019 before U.S. District Court Judge Michael W. Mosman.

This case was investigated by the FBI and is being prosecuted by Hannah Horsley, Assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Oregon.

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Tennessee Man Pleads Guilty to Cyberstalking

           WASHINGTON - Andrew T. Maliska, 27, of Nashville, Tennessee, pled guilty on Monday, June 17 to cyberstalking in the District of Columbia following an investigation into the creation and circulation of doctored images, related postings, and the personal information of the victim.

           The announcement was made by U.S. Attorney Jessie K. Liu and John P. Selleck, Acting Assistant Director in Charge of the FBI’s Washington Field Office.

           Maliska was indicted by a grand jury on one count of cyberstalking and indicted on two counts of identity theft. The indictment was unsealed on May 24, 2018, in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.

           According to the government’s evidence, Maliska resided in the District of Columbia from September 2009 until June 2013, where he studied at a local university and met the victim. The indictment alleges that during the course of his friendship with the victim, Maliska without authorization, accessed and obtained non-sexual images from the victim’s social media accounts. According to the indictment, Maliska then doctored those images to sexualize them and posted them on various online forums.

           The indictment alleges that Maliska also posted the victim’s name, phone number, and address on an escort website in May of 2015. This posting resulted in the victim receiving multiple inquiries from individuals seeking escort services from her. The indictment further alleges that the nature of the other postings were pornographic, racist, and defamatory.

           The victim and her family filed a civil suit against Maliska in October of 2015. The following year, the victim and her family obtained a civil settlement in which Maliska acknowledged the postings and content were authored by him, stated he would remove the content, and agreed that he would refrain from engaging in further defamatory postings of the victim.

           As alleged in the indictment, in August 2017, after Maliska entered into the civil settlement, he continued to commission sexual images of the victim, posted about the victim, and reactivated a fake social media account in her name. The indictment alleges that Maliska used the victim’s name, biographical information, and images to create the fake social media account. Maliska used the fake social media account to befriend and communicate with others online.

           The charge of cyberstalking carries a statutory maximum of five years in prison and potential financial penalties.

           This case was investigated by the FBI’s Washington Field Office. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Youli Lee and Charles Willoughby, paralegal Diane Brashears, and former Assistant U.S. Attorney Sumit Mallick, of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia. Assistance was provided by Assistant U.S. Attorney Byron Jones of the U.S. Attorney’s Office of the Middle District of Tennessee and Bianca Evans, formerly of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia.

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E-Commerce Company Pleads Guilty To Antitrust Charge

Gennex Media and its President Sentenced for Conspiracy To Fix Prices of Promotional Products Sold Online

Gennex Media LLC (aka Brandnex.com and PMGOA) pleaded guilty and was sentenced today for conspiring to fix prices for customized promotional products sold online to customers in the United States.  Gennex Media’s president, Akil Kurji, was also sentenced today for his role in the conspiracy.

According to the felony charges filed on Nov. 1, 2018, and the plea agreement filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas in Houston, Gennex Media, its president, Akil Kurji, and their co-conspirators agreed to fix the prices of customized promotional products sold online from May 2014 until at least June 2016.  The customized promotional products subject to the conspiracy included wristbands, lanyards, temporary tattoos, and buttons.  The defendants and their co-conspirators used social media platforms and encrypted messaging applications, such as Facebook, Skype, and Whatsapp, to reach and implement their illegal agreement.  In addition to pleading guilty, Gennex was sentenced to pay a $752,717 criminal fine.  Kurji was sentenced to eight months in custody, a $20,000 criminal fine, and three years of supervised release.

“Today’s guilty plea and sentencings demonstrate the Division’s commitment to uncovering and prosecuting collusion that affects the online marketplace,” said Assistant Attorney General Makan Delrahim of the Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division.  “We will continue to hold companies and their top executives accountable, seeking significant criminal fines and prison terms for those who violate the antitrust laws at the expense of everyday Americans.” 

“The Department of Justice’s simple message is don’t collude to fix prices,” said U.S. Attorney Ryan K. Patrick for the Southern District of Texas.  “If you are caught doing this, not only will you likely face large fines, but you could end up in federal prison.  Fixing prices hurts consumers and market competitors, whether the conspiracy involves small, logo branded items or million dollar pieces of equipment.”

“The guilty plea and sentencing handed down today should serve as a warning to those who would corrupt America’s business markets that the FBI and its partners will pursue justice for our consumers,” said Perrye K. Turner, Special Agent in Charge of FBI’s Houston Field Office.  “Such conduct will not be tolerated and there are harsh consequences for companies and their executives who violate competition law.”

To date, 11 defendants have been charged in the investigation into the online customized promotional products industry.  Of those defendants, five individuals and four companies have pleaded guilty.  The corporate guilty pleas in the investigation have resulted in criminal fines totaling almost $10 million.

This prosecution arose from an ongoing federal antitrust investigation into price fixing in the online promotional products industry, which is being conducted by the Antitrust Division’s Washington Criminal I Office, with the assistance of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Southern District of Texas and the FBI’s Houston Field Office.  Anyone with information on price fixing or other anticompetitive conduct related to other products in the customized promotional products industry should contact the Antitrust Division’s Citizen Complaint Center at 888-647-3258 or visit www.justice.gov/atr/contact/newcase.html.

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