(February 5th, 2020) In July of 2019, the Aurora Police Department Economic Crimes Unit began investigating a forgery scam that targeted a 16-year-old high school student.  The suspects in this scam used social media to contact the victim and enticed him to provide his banking information.  They would then deposit forged money orders into the victim’s account.  As soon as the money was deposited into the account, the suspects would withdraw the money before the money orders were discovered to be forgeries.  The victim was promised a small portion of the cash in exchange for the use of their account. Instead, the victim was held financially responsible for the returned lost funds.

Through an extensive investigation, APD Investigator Myshell Bolton was able to identify the three suspects and locate additional victims.  The suspects were identified as Hussein Farah, 23-year-old male (shown in image below with a black shirt), Abdihakiin Hassan, 19-year-old male (shown in image below with a grey Nike shirt), and a 16-year-old male.  No further information will be released on the juvenile suspect.

On 01/10/2020 Investigator Bolton filed criminal charges of Money laundering, Identity Theft, Forgery, and other crimes with the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office.

The Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office issued warrants for all three suspects and will prosecute the case.  Hassan turned himself in on 01/25/2020.  The juvenile male was arrested on 02/02/2020 by Aurora Police Department.  Farah has not yet been arrested.  Any further inquiries regarding this case should be directed to the Arapahoe County District Attorney’s Office.

The Aurora Police Department urges parents to speak with their children because we believe there may be other victims of this scheme. Victims may be hesitant to come forward due to a fear of being criminally charged.  However, the APD and District Attorney’s Office will review each case and may take the stance, as they did in this case, that these are innocent victims that have been coerced by the suspects into the scheme.

If any members of the public have information about this case, please contact Investigator Myshell Bolton at 303.739.6142.

Tipsters can also remain anonymous and be eligible for a reward of up to $2,000 by contacting Metro Denver Crime Stoppers at 720.913.STOP (7867). 

The below photograph of Farah is a previous booking photograph provided by Denver Police Department.  

  

Agent Faith R. Goodrich
Public Information Officer
303.739.6038