Charleston Man and Business Indicted in Federal Court in Over $9M Fraud

Charleston, South Carolina --- United States Attorney Sherri A. Lydon  announced today that Amir Golestan, 36, of Charleston, South Carolina, and Micfo, LLC, were charged in federal court in a twenty-count indictment.  The indictment charges twenty counts of wire fraud, with each count punishable by up to 20 years imprisonment. 

The indictment alleges that since February 2014, Golestan and Micfo created and utilized “Channel Partners,” which purported to consist of several individual businesses, all of whom acquired the right to IP addresses from the American Registry of Internet Numbers (ARIN).  The indictment alleges that Golestan and Micfo fabricated the true nature of the Channel Partners, including creating false officers and deceptive websites for the businesses, which were in turn used to deceive ARIN and to fraudulently obtain IP address rights from ARIN.  The indictment charges that, through this scheme, Golestan and Micfo obtained the rights to approximately 757,760 IP addresses, with a market value between $9,850,880.00 and $14,397,440.00.

The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.  Assistant United States Attorney Nathan Williams of the Charleston office is prosecuting the case.

The United States Attorney stated that all charges in the indictment are merely accusations and that the defendants are presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.

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