A Massachusetts man is facing decades behind bars after stealing more than $1.3 million from the United States government using forged checks.
The Department of Justice (DOJ) says 31-year-old Leominster resident Jesse El-Ghoul has pleaded guilty to one count of theft of government funds, one count of bank fraud and four counts of money laundering for running a forged tax refund scheme.
[adinserter block="1"]Prosecutors say that on March 29th, 2024, El-Ghoul deposited a tax refund check for $1.344 million into his Affordable Motor Group business account.
Court filings show that the Treasury Department originally issued the check in question to a Canadian firm based on its 2021 tax return.
El-Ghoul altered and forged the check to make it payable to Affordable Motor Group, a business that he owned and operated. The DOJ also says that El-Ghoul owed back taxes for the business.
In the days following the fraudulent deposit, El-Ghoul returned to the bank and purchased multiple cashier’s checks for $235,280, $223,591, $202,643 and $425,000. El-Ghoul made the checks payable to shell companies and to a law firm in connection with a third-party real estate transaction in eastern Massachusetts in an effort to launder the funds.
El-Ghoul was arrested and charged by criminal complaint in June 2025 and was later indicted by a federal grand jury in August of last year. He is slated for sentencing on April 16th, 2026.
Says the DOJ,
“The charge of theft of government funds provides for a sentence of up to 10 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of $250,000. The charge of bank fraud provides for a sentence of up to 30 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $1 million. The charges of money laundering each provide for a sentence of up to 20 years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $500,000 or twice the amount of money involved in the laundering transactions, whichever is greater.”
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