Dracut Man Sentenced for Fraud Scheme Involving Online Sales of Cosmetics

BOSTON – A Dracut man was sentenced today in federal court in Boston for carrying out a scheme to obtain products of an online cosmetics company through fraud and to resell those products on Amazon and eBay for a profit.

Nick Ashtar-Zadeh, 23, was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Julia E. Kobick to six months in prison, to be followed by two years of supervised release. Ashtar-Zadeh was also ordered to pay $181,806 in restitution and forfeiture of $111,156. Ashtar-Zadeh was charged in September 2024 along with his brother, Nika Ashtar-Zadeh, and pleaded guilty to one count of wire fraud in October 2024.

Between 2029 and 2021, Ashtar-Zadeh and his brother operated Amazon and eBay “stores” that offered various products for sale, including the products of a cosmetics company in Texas. The Ashtar-Zadehs offered the company’s products on these platforms to buyers for one-time payments that were typically equal to or below the company’s list prices for the same products. The Ashtar-Zadehs then enrolled these Amazon and eBay buyers in the company’s 30-day trial program for the same products. The brothers entered the buyers’ information on the company’s website, without the customers’ knowledge or consent, and caused the company to ship its products to those buyers for a trial period. For these orders, the Ashtar-Zadehs presented the company with forms of payment that fulfilled initial charges of $19.95 but were declined when the company attempted to charge later installments, after buyers had kept the products past 30 days. The brothers sold the company’s products in this manner to hundreds of buyers on Amazon and eBay, each time pocketing the difference between what the buyers paid them and the initial $19.95 upfront payment to the company. As a result of the conduct, the Ashtar-Zadehs cost the company hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In November 2024, Nika Ashtar-Zadeh pleaded guilty and is awaiting sentencing on May 21, 2025.

United States Attorney Leah B. Foley and Jodi Cohen, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Boston Division made the announcement today. Assistant U.S. Attorney David M. Holcomb of the Securities, Financial & Cyber Fraud Unit is prosecuting the case.