Oregon couple orchestrated sneaker Ponzi scheme, defrauding customers and banks of $85 million, plus millions more in 'worthless' gift cards: Report



An Oregon man and his fiancée have been accused of orchestrating what amounts to a Ponzi scheme through a now-defunct sneaker business by allegedly accepting presale orders that they knew they couldn't fulfill.

For almost a decade, Michael Malekzadeh, 39, owned Zadeh Kicks LLC, an online sneaker company based out of Eugene which bought limited edition sneakers and resold them. For six years or so, the business supposedly operated as advertised. However, in 2019, Malekzadeh began collecting presale orders for rare shoes. By 2020, he allegedly marked presale orders well below cost in order to entice more orders, knowing that he would never be able to acquire enough shoes to fill all the orders he'd received.

For example, prosecutors claim that Malekzadeh processed orders for more than 600,000 pairs of Nike Air Jordan 11 Cool Grey sneakers in 2021, generating over $70 million in presale revenue, but was able to acquire only 6,000 pairs of shoes. Malekzadeh supposedly compensated the 594,000 customers who never received their orders with a small refund combined with a store gift card, which prosecutors have called "worthless" in court filings.

For reasons unclear, he sometimes even offered shoeless customers more than they paid, according to the Register-Guard.

Meanwhile, Malekzadeh's fiancée, Bethany Mockerman, also 39, was the chief financial officer of Zadeh Kicks, and she allegedly defrauded partners on the other end of the business by falsifying financial forms submitted to lending institutions to secure loans. Court filings claim that by altering bank statements, she and Malekzadeh amassed approximately $15 million in fraudulent loans on behalf of Zadeh Kicks.

It is unclear when Mockerman began working for Zadeh Kicks.

Federal prosecutors have charged Malekzadeh with wire fraud, conspiracy to commit bank fraud, and money laundering. Mockerman has been charged with conspiracy to commit bank fraud.

Malekzadeh shuttered Zadeh Kicks back in May. FBI agents have since seized approximately $6.4 million in assets, including cash, 100 watches, other jewelry, luxury cars, and hundreds of handbags. Malekzadeh has also been listed as a manager and agent for Eugreen Farms LLC, a local cannabis company. A designated receiver is now in charge of the remaining assets at Zadeh Kicks.

Both Malekzadeh and Mockerman are said to be cooperating with investigators. Malekzadeh's attorney, Joanna Perini-Abbott, insisted that her client is "not hiding from his conduct." Likewise, Mockerman's attorney, Whitney Boise, claimed that Mockerman "remains committed to doing what she can do to minimize the financial harm to Zadeh Kicks’ customers and creditors.”

Both pleaded not guilty during a virtual hearing in federal court on Wednesday. Their trial has been set for June 2023.

Bank fraud suspect returned to same gas station one day later. But this time, a victim was waiting for him — and handcuffs after that: 'Play stupid games, win stupid prizes!'



A woman in Stuart, Florida, recently helped law enforcement nab a prolific bank fraud suspect by tracking the individual down and conducting her own investigation into his alleged criminal activities.

According to WPBF-TV, the inquisitive woman sprang into action on Thursday after noticing multiple gas station charges on her credit card from the day before that she had not authorized.

Charge descriptions included in her bank account pointed her in the direction of a nearby WaWa convenience store off Federal Highway near Johnson Avenue.

So, hoping the suspect would return to the same gas station the next day, she drove out to the location to stalk the area out. Sure enough, before long she identified a suspicious white pickup truck pumping gas from pumps 9 and 10.

At the very same time that the man was pumping the gas, the woman allegedly received potential fraud notifications from her bank on her cell phone that matched the location of the transactions. According to police, she also witnessed the suspect throwing credit cards in the trash after using them.

She was sure she had her guy, so she called 911 to alert police.

Officers immediately responded to the WaWa store and, after a brief search of his person and vehicle, placed Rosniel Jimenez Gonzalez, of Fort Lauderdale, under arrest.

During the search, officers reportedly found multiple steel tanks in the back of the truck as well as some others laid flat on the truck bed, covered by a carpet for concealment. Gonzalez also allegedly placed wood pallets, a tire, and a construction cone on top of the tanks in attempt to conceal them.

Inside the truck, detectives discovered a whopping 28 fraudulent credit and debit cards.

Gonzalez has reportedly been charged on multiple fraud-related counts — including trafficking in or possessing counterfeit credit cards, the unlawful conveyance of fuel, obtaining fuel by fraud, fraudulent use of credit card more than two times within six months, and unlawful possession of personal ID of five or more persons.

Victim of bank fraud tracks down suspect at Stuart gas station, leads to his arrest and multiple ... www.youtube.com

"Play stupid games, win stupid prizes! Great job to the victim and PD! Another one bites the dust," commented one user on the Stuart Police Department's Facebook news release about the incident.