Tag: Detroit
Pharmacy Tech, Prescription Forgery, California 2020
⏱ 3 min read A brazen pharmacy tech sold fake scripts for cash, ripping off Medicare, Medicaid, and Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan for a staggering $5.6 million. Ali Naserdean, 32, of Dearborn Heights, worked at three metro-Detroit pharmacies from 2019 to 2022. Naserdean and his co-conspirator flooded health care benefit programs with false…
Michael Johnson, Murder, California 2020
⏱ 3 min read Aaron Height, a 25-year-old armed career criminal, is behind bars for 25 years after shooting a man in the chest in a brutal act of violence. The shooting was part of a six-week crime spree that left a trail of destruction in its wake. The crime spree, which spanned from October…
Terry Dawayne Catchings, Cocaine Distribution, Vermont 2025
⏱ 2 min read A Detroit man was caught selling cocaine in Vermont, breaking his federal supervised release. Terry Dawayne Catchings, 31, was sentenced to 30 months in prison after pleading guilty to two charges of distribution of cocaine and cocaine base in December 2025. Catchings was still serving a federal sentence of supervised release…
Catherine Spidell-Ferguson, PPP Loan Fraud, Michigan 2020
⏱ 2 min read A couple from Southfield, Michigan, swindled taxpayers out of $1.2 million in a brazen Paycheck Protection Program scam during the COVID-19 pandemic. Catherine Spidell-Ferguson and her husband D’Angelo Ferguson pleaded guilty to their roles in the scheme. The Fergusons submitted fake loan applications to the PPP, claiming each company had a…
Joel Martin Mendez, Sex Crimes, Michigan 2023
⏱ 2 min read A Guatemalan national with a history of preying on children has been caught illegally re-entering the United States. Joel Martin Mendez, 33, was arrested in February after Detroit Sector Border Patrol identified him as a prior convicted sex offender who had failed to register as required. Mendez had previously been removed…
Tauheed Salik Wilder, Unemployment Insurance and PPP Fraud, Michigan 2022
⏱ 2 min read A Detroit scammer’s brazen scheme to bilk taxpayers out of $1.9M in unemployment insurance and Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) funds has ended with a guilty plea. Tauheed Salik Wilder, 43, ripped off hundreds of false claims for unemployment insurance benefits in multiple states, including Michigan and California, using the names and…
Ylli Didani, Cocaine Trafficking, Michigan 2019
⏱ 2 min read Ylli Didani, a 48-year-old Albania national, was sentenced to 25 years in prison for his role in a massive cocaine trafficking operation that spanned the globe. The scheme, which involved thousands of kilograms of cocaine, was orchestrated from the Eastern District of Michigan and involved ties to South America and Europe.…
Michele Denise Hill, Student Aid Scam, Michigan 2025
⏱ 2 min read Michele Denise Hill, a 48-year-old Detroit resident, pleaded guilty to running a decade-long scheme to swindle over $2.5 million in federal student aid funds. The scam, which started as early as July 2015 and continued until at least July 2025, involved Hill submitting fraudulent aid applications for more than 80 individuals…
Detroit Federal Agents, Money Laundering, Detroit MI, 2024
⏱ 3 min read Detroit federal agents just shut down a $14.9 million money laundering pipeline funnelling drug cash from international cartels into the U.S. financial system. The seizure happened earlier this year, but details were unsealed Friday. The operation involved a classic “trade-based money laundering” scheme – dirty money disguised as legitimate import/export transactions,…
