In Pittsburgh FBI case, West African fraudster goes to federal prison for nationwide scheme to steal high-end cars

A West African con man living in Maryland who stole 16 identities and then used fake money orders to buy and lease fancy cars from dealers in Pittsburgh and other cities is headed to federal prison for more than four years.

U.S. District Judge Marilyn Horan on Wednesday gave Serge Ahmed Zeba, the son of a diplomat, 57 months behind bars for wire fraud, interstate transportation of stolen vehicles and aggravated identity theft.

She also ordered him to pay $131,000 in restitution.

Zeba, a 31-year-old native of Burkina Faso from Alexandria, Va., had been charged last year following an investigation by the Pittsburgh FBI, which determined that he had victimized Rohrich Lexus on West Liberty Avenue and P&W BMW on Baum Boulevard. He also ripped off dealerships in Georgia, Ohio, Maryland and Nebraska.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karen Gal-Or said Zeba’s scheme involved 23 car dealerships and 16 identity theft victims across the U.S., with losses estimated at between $250,000 and $550,000. Rohrich Lexus and its insurance carrier prepared a victim impact statement, as did the insurance carrier for P&W. Several of the identity theft victims, identified in court by their initials, also prepared statements about how Zeba’s crimes hurt them financially.

The FBI laid out Zeba’s scheme in an affidavit after his arrest last year in Virginia. The narrative starts in August 2021 when a man initiated an online inquiry with a car dealer in Dublin, Ohio, to lease a $108,000 Mercedes. He completed the online credit application using the name, Social Security number and insurance policy of a victim identified as G.S. in Maryland.

Zeba, the FBI later determined, had stolen the man’s identity.

When the dealership grew suspicious, employees asked for more documents, so G.S. supplied pay stubs, billing statements and bank records that contained discrepancies. Huntington Bank rejected the financing request but the dealership asked G.S. to visit anyway and called the local police to nab him when he showed up.

G.S. never did. Instead, he asked that the dealership ship the car to him in Maryland. The dealer refused.

But G.S. was nothing if not persistent. Three days after contacting the Dublin dealership, he contacted Rohrich Lexus to lease a Lexus worth $60,000. He used the same information as in the Ohio case.

This time the scheme worked. Lexus approved his credit application, and G.S. arrived, used Moneygram orders for a down payment and drove the car off the lot.

The money orders came back as fraudulent, of course, but by then G.S. was long gone.

The same scenario played out a few weeks later involving B.U., another ID theft victim from Delaware. He wanted to lease a $104,000 BMW from P&W. B.U. — Zeba — arrived and drove that car away, too.

Agents said Zeba perpetrated the same fraud multiple times starting in 2020, from Savannah to Omaha. Police in various locations were hunting for him.

His thefts began in December 2020 when he used a stolen ID to lease a BMW in Savannah, paying for it with fake money orders. Cops traced the car to Manhattan and found Zeba behind the wheel, but he was apparently not arrested.

Police eventually tracked him down in Alexandria on Jan. 26, 2022, when officers stopped him in a hotel parking lot. He was driving a new BMW reported stolen out of Baltimore County.

He tried to get away, police said, starting the car and putting it into drive. But the engine stalled. Officers yanked him out. They found multiple IDs on him. They also found cash, checks and tools to print IDs.

A search of his hotel room turned up a laser printer, cashier’s checks and bank checks in various names, a fake U.S. permanent resident card in Zeba’s name, driver’s licenses from various states in various names, blank Moneygram orders, a laptop, cellphones and a Dremel tool used to peel away unwanted markings on documents.

Zeba’s lawyer, Stanley Greenfield, asked for leniency on the grounds that his client is “worthy of redemption.” He has a degree in computer science and had plans for the future that are now at risk, at least in America.

“Sadly,” said Greenfield, “Zeba’s American dream of success has already been dashed.”

Zeba faces possible deportation to Burkina Faso, a nation roiled by revolution. He left there in 2013 to come to the U.S.

Prosecutors said Zeba has only himself to blame for his plight. He orchestrated a sophisticated scheme over and over, not just once. What’s more, they said, he has a computer science degree and comes from an affluent family.

Gal-Or, the assistant U.S. attorney, said he’s had many advantages. He didn’t need to resort to crime to make money.

“When there is no apparent reason as to why an individual would engage in criminal conduct, oftentimes, in fraud cases, the ‘why’ is simple,” she said. “Greed.”