Three charged, three sought in massive import-car fraud case

CONCORD - Six individuals including two from Sierra Leone and three from Massachusetts have been charged in federal court with participating in a fraudulent loan scheme, the U.S. Attorneys Office announced n Monday.
The indictment returned by a federal grand jury alleges that between January and July of 2019, the defendants executed a scheme to defraud several financial institutions in New Hampshire.

To do so the defendants applied for and obtained multiple loans to purchase cars purportedly sold by Allied Imports, a Manchester car wholesaler, and Cap's Auto Sales, a Manchester car retailer.
Solomon Yarteh was the President of Allied Imports and Robesteur St. Felix was the CEO of Cap's Auto Sales. The indictment alleges that the sales were fraudulent because the defendants never owned - or greatly inflated the value of - the cars.
In total, the defendants allegedly defrauded the financial institutions of several hundred thousand dollars. According to the indictment, some defendants then transferred, wired, or withdrew the fraudulently obtained loan proceeds in violation of federal anti-money laundering laws.

Those charged in the indictment are:

Solomon Yarteh, 47, of Sierra Leone;

Robesteur St. Felix, 46, of Manchester, N.H.;

Niurka Lebron, 44, previously of Boston;

Donna Marie Silva, 43, of Lowell, Mass.;

Arthur Beckett, 35, of Covington, Ga.; and

Amara Jalloh, 41, of Sierra Leone.

All six have been charged with bank fraud. Yarteh, St. Felix, and Silva also are charged with money laundering offenses.

Defendants St. Felix, Silva, and Beckett each have been arrested and released pending trial, which has been scheduled for Oct. 5. The remaining three defendants have not yet been arrested.
An indictment is not an indication of guilt, rather that enough evidence has been gathered to move forward to trial.