A father, mother and their two children, all with Belgian identity cards, have been arrested in Hawaii, near the world-famous surfing beach Waikiki Beach. Tim D. (37), Latifa Z. (47) and their sons Haitem D. (19) and Sofyane D. (22) allegedly defrauded residents of Hawaii out of hundreds of thousands of dollars. “Unscrupulous greed,” says an FBI agent of the fraud.
The indictment states that the family arrived in Los Angeles in January 2022 with Belgian passports. In the fall, around September, they moved to Hawaii. On the island of paradise, they posed as successful private equity investors who had made millions of dollars investing in startups – young companies focused on rapid growth.
They promised gullible Hawaiians a gigantic return on their investments. The fraud is said to have been set up by the 19-year-old son Haitem D. He says he worked with an asset manager from Connecticut in the US and thus succeeded in getting several victims to invest large sums of money.
216 percent efficiency
Haitem D. (19) told two investors who invested $10,000 that the value of their investment had risen to $148,000 after just one week. He convinced the couple to invest $ 294,000 again, on which they would also receive a monthly return of 216 percent.
His mother, Latifa D. (47), is said to have convinced the couple that their pension account was not generating enough money and that it would be better to invest it with her son Haitem D. (19). However, when the promised return was not paid, the couple became suspicious. Haitem D. (19) then said that payments had been delayed “because his transfers were blocked by European banks”.
100 million dollars
Haitem D., 19, told another couple that he managed a $100 million fund. They invested $5,000, on which they were promised an annual return of 315 percent. Haitem (19) said “he knew everything about investments, but one had to be patient; it wouldn’t happen overnight.” Here too, mother Latifa played a role in the persuasion process, telling the couple “that they would only get such an opportunity once in their lifetime”. However, the investors never got to see the promised returns.
Private jet
The family stayed in Honolulu at the Aston Sunset Waikiki Hotel, a good 350 meters from the world famous surfing beach Waikiki Beach. Haitem D., 19, recently told staff they were staying at the hotel waiting for better weather so they could take a private jet from Hawaii.
“unscrupulous greed”
FBI Agent Steven Merrill calls the fraud “unscrupulous greed and manipulation” and wants to do everything he can to bring the guilty to justice. The four family members deny the charges. Father Tim D. (37) and son Haitem D. (19) would be in prison awaiting trial, while mother Latifa (47) and son Sofyiane (22) are free after paying bail. The four family members, if found guilty, face a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison and a $1 million fine.
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