Andrey Perov was charged with conspiracy to launder monetary instruments, conspiracy to engage in monetary transactions in property derived from a specified unlawful activity, and operating a money transmitting business without a license, according t …
BROWARD COUNTY, Fla. - A Florida pawn shop owner has been charged in a $53 million gift card and money order laundering scheme that involved fake client aliases like "Michael Jackson" and "Tom Hanks," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office in the Southern District of Florida.
Andrey Perov, a 38-year-old from Miami who owns two pawn shops in South Florida, is facing charges including money laundering and operating a money transmitting business without a license as a result of an investigation that revealed he was engaged in illegal business practices dating back to at least 2017, according to charging documents obtained by FOX 35.
The FBI was first put on Perov's radar in 2019 by a confidential source who was facing jail time for narcotics trafficking charges who eventually opted to cooperate with the investigation, the documents said. He told investigators that a co-conspirator of Perov previously laundered drug proceeds for him.
The source asked the co-conspirator to launder money for him in the event that he would be facing jail time, according to investigators. That co-conspirator said no, but did refer the source to Perov. According to this co-conspirator, Perov "had a business that bought ‘gift cards’ for cash in Florida" and he "always needed cash on hand in order to purchase the ‘gift cards,'" the documents said.
The confidential source met with Perov in January 2021. Perov said he "owned several pawn shops in South Florida and could always use U.S. currency to purchase "gift cards," the documents said. As a result of their interaction, Perov agreed to get $11,000 in cash from the source – which he claimed was "dirty money" from selling "pills" – and would allegedly launder drug proceeds through his pawn shops. The money was transferred from a covert bank account maintained by law enforcement.
The source remained in contact with Perov through his assistant and would continuously make it known that his money was obtained by illegal means as part of the investigation.
"I know, I know," the assistant replied, according to the document.
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Between February and June of 2021, the source provided cash proceeds totaling nearly $100,000 to Perov's assistant three times for the purpose of being laundered through the pawn shops, the documents said.
The source then told Perov's assistant that he had an "associate" who dealt with "gift cards," investigators said. That associate was another confidential source who Perov's assistant agreed to meet with in July 2021. The FBI obtained $540,000 worth of gift cards to be used in this investigation and the second source represented them to Perov's assistant as either to have been stolen or fraudulently acquired.
Starting that December and through November 2022, the second confidential source gave Perov's assistant about $540,000 worth of gift cards, and the source was given $460,000 in return, the documents said.
In September 2023, investigators met with a co-conspirator who agreed to cooperate with the investigation. This unidentified person said Perov used his pawn shops to accept stolen and fraudulent gift cards and money orders. Furthermore, the business was used to transmit cash proceeds to people involved in criminal activities and other "suspicious" people, the documents said.
About 70% of all gift cards and 100% of all money orders that were sold to Perov's pawn shops were fraudulent, the co-conspirator told the FBI. Additionally, the co-conspirator also said Perov was aware that pawn shops needed to have a money transmitting license to conduct business, but he never got one.
"There was no legitimate reason why someone would want to sell a money order to the store since money orders could already be used to pay bills, rent, etc. They were as liquid as cash," the co-conspirator explained, according to the documents.
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Throughout Perov's alleged scheme, he kept a detailed online ledger that included all the clients' information, like gift card numbers, money order numbers, phone numbers, addresses, dollar amounts, bank information, social media profiles and other cash transaction data.
The FBI obtained a search warrant for the ledger on Feb. 9, 2024, which revealed that Perov's pawn shops collectively redeemed for cash about $53 million of money orders and gift cards. About $2 million of these gift card were denied or blocked due to fraud or theft.
Some of the top customers listed in the online ledger had apparent false names to hide their identity. Some of these names included "Tom Hanks," "Michael Jackson" and "Fats Fatz."
Perov remains in custody in Broward County without bond before being transferred into U.S. Marshals' custody. He made his first appearance on Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Fort Lauderdale.
If convicted for money laundering, Perov faces 20 years in federal prison and a fine of $500,000 or up to twice the value of the transactions. For the money transmitting business without a license charge, Perov faces up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $250,000.