Two San Fernando Valley Men Arrested on Federal Complaint Alleging They Exported $611 Million in Electronics Obtained by Fraud

LOS ANGELES - Two San Fernando Valley men were arrested today on a federal criminal complaint charging them with running a Van Nuys-based company that exported hundreds of millions of dollars' worth of consumer electronics and gift cards, nearly all derived from criminal activities such as identity theft, credit card theft, and fraud.

Saman Delafraz, 32, of Woodland Hills, and Benjamin Daneshgar, 34, of Studio City, are charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering.

They are expected to make their initial appearances tomorrow in United States District Court in downtown Los Angeles.

According to an affidavit filed with the complaint, Delafraz and Daneshgar owned and operated Wireless World, a company that operates from warehouses in Van Nuys and New Castle, Delaware. Wireless World uses these locations to aggregate electronics before shipping them out of the United States. Since 2019, Wireless World has exported more than $611 million in electronics from the United States, nearly all of which law enforcement believes to be crime proceeds.

In addition, and pursuant to federal warrants, the Van Nuys and Delaware warehouses and Delafraz's residence were searched today, and Wireless World's bank accounts were seized.

Delafraz and Daneshgar procured electronics and gift cards from many illicit sources, including Blade Bai, 37, of El Monte, who is serving a 15-year prison sentence after being convicted in 2023 of federal money laundering charges. Bai sold electronics and gift cards to Wireless World and those items were largely derived from telephone scams in which victims were duped into buying and providing gift cards numbers over the phone. Those gift cards then were used to buy electronics and laundered into new gift cards to conceal the source of the funds.

Juan Carlos Thola-Duran, 58, a.k.a. "Parcero," of Canyon Country, also sold electronics and gift cards to Wireless World, which he provided the company from December 2018 to August 2024. Thola is in federal custody and charged in a separate federal criminal case with acting as a coordinator and fence for South American crime tourism groups and other individuals who obtained electronics and gift cards using illegal means, including stolen bank cards. Thola and several other defendants are scheduled to go to trial in January 2026.

Delafraz and Daneshgar also acquired electronics directly themselves through fraud. They bought electronics from Best Buy, The Home Depot, and other retailers using gift cards loaded with fraud proceeds - primarily via stolen credit cards. Those electronics often were shipped directly to the Wireless World warehouse or to mailboxes the defendants controlled.

A criminal complaint contains allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

If convicted, the defendants would face a statutory maximum sentence of 20 years in federal prison.

Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI are investigating this matter. The Los Angeles Police Department, the Cobb County Police Department (Georgia) provided significant assistance.

Assistant United States Attorney Khaldoun Shobaki of the Terrorism and Export Crimes Section and Assistant United States Attorney Ryan J. Waters of the Asset Forfeiture and Recovery Section are prosecuting this case.