The DOT's Most Wanted: 34 Moving Fraud Fugitives the Government Can't Find

The DOT Office of Inspector General publishes a Most Wanted Fugitives list at oig.dot.gov/wanted-fugitives. It contains 36 names. Of those, 34 are charged with 'Fraud Involving Moving Company.' Two are charged with other offenses (hazardous materials, bus fraud). Two of the moving fraud fugitives are flagged Armed and Dangerous.

This is the federal government's list of people it has charged with moving fraud and cannot find. A former DOT OIG investigator recently directed journalists to the list, noting its relevance to ongoing investigations into moving fraud networks.

The list has been active for years. Most of the fugitives have never been apprehended. Two have been captured. The rest remain at large while the industry they defrauded continues to generate thousands of federal complaints per year.

Trunk's ontology cross-references principals, companies, and enforcement actions across the moving industry. Several fugitives on the OIG list connect to cases we have documented.

Roni Hayon, Adii Therese Karter, Noam Israeli, Ido Or, and Elazar Nisanov were all indicted in March 2013 by a Santa Clara County grand jury for operating a household goods fraud scheme through ASAP Relocations Inc in San Jose, California from 2005 to 2012. The operation ran under six company names: ASAP Relocation, America's Best Movers, Champion Movers, Fast Moving Van Lines, Quick Quotes for Moving, and Encore Movers.

The scheme was the same one documented across hundreds of companies in Trunk's database today: artificially low estimates, phony fees doubling or tripling the price after loading, cash demands, and threats of storage charges for consumers who refused to pay.

Two co-defendants were sentenced. Adalinda Reyna-Mendoza received 6 months incarceration and over $200,000 in restitution. Moaz Kadesh received 5 years probation and $160,000 in restitution. The five fugitives have never been found.

A consumer who was defrauded by ASAP Relocations in the mid-2000s reported the fraud, assisted the investigation, and watched the company go down. Twenty years later, that same consumer was defrauded again by a different set of operators using the identical playbook. The people changed. The scheme did not.

Hayon, the CEO, is described as 6 feet 4 inches, 220 pounds, last known in San Jose, California.

The largest group on the OIG list comes from a single FBI investigation. In February 2003, the FBI concluded a two-year probe dubbed 'Operation Stow Biz.' The result: 74 people indicted across 16 moving companies in Broward and Dade counties, Florida. It remains the largest criminal prosecution of moving fraud ever conducted in the United States. 50 were arrested. The rest became fugitives.

The operation was anchored by Advanced Moving Systems in Sunrise, Florida. Charges included conspiracy, extortion, wire fraud, false documentation, and 'inflating the price of the move and thereafter withholding delivery of goods until customers paid the inflated price.'

Ten OIG fugitives trace to this single case, all listed as Known Associates of each other: Shlomo Molaim (foreman, aliases 'Sam' and 'Sammy'), Tamir Cohen (aliases 'Tony' and 'Tommy Chance'), Choni Aloul, Guy Ashkenazi, Eddei Benita, Oshri Cohen, Eyal Zeira, Zion Rokah, Eli Peretz, Itzhak Luzon, and Yosef Schvartzman.

Additional fugitives from related 2003 Florida indictments: Moshe Elmakias (foreman for Moving Systems Inc, AAA Van Lines, Ameri Van Lines, and SI Trucking, 7 defendants), Moshe Bachar (alias 'Mike', 7 co-conspirators, charges include money laundering), Shai Oren, Yuval Perez (alias 'Israel'), Neil Shlomo Liebich, Eyal Malul (alias 'Ben Levy', charges include money laundering), Simo Elbaz, and Sivan Maoz.

In December 2007, 14 people were indicted for conspiracy and extortion connected to AY Transport Inc, also operating as Progressive Van Lines and Midwest Relocation Services, a California-based moving company.

Between April 2001 and October 2005, AY Transport lured over 1,000 customers with artificially low estimates. Drivers rushed customers through blank or incomplete paperwork, then inflated weight claims and overcharged for packing materials. Goods were held hostage until inflated prices were paid. When customers refused, goods were warehoused and their locations withheld. Documented losses exceeded $250,000.

Barak Braunshtain (driver, last known in Coconut Creek, Florida) and Amit Ezyoni (owner and CEO) are both flagged Armed and Dangerous. Asaf Nass remains at large. Eli Kaupp was a fugitive for 11 years before being captured at San Francisco International Airport in September 2018 while on his way to Mexico.

All four are listed as Known Associates of each other on the OIG website.

Santa Clara County, California prosecuted at least three moving fraud cases that produced OIG fugitives.

ASAP Relocations (2013): Roni Hayon, Adii Therese Karter, Noam Israeli, Ido Or, and Elazar Nisanov. Six company names. Eight charged, two sentenced, five fled.

MTF Relocation (2011): Brothers Oren Avitan and Yehuda Avitan were charged with conspiracy, extortion, attempted extortion, and grand theft for operating a lowball estimate and hostage load scheme through MTF Relocation.

Edan Elbaz (2011): Charged separately with conspiracy and grand theft in a felony complaint filed February 9, 2011.

Santa Clara County appears to have been the most active jurisdiction in California for criminal prosecution of moving fraud.

Jovan H. Balknight was indicted by a Harris County, Texas grand jury on charges of fraud. He and two accomplices lured customers using extremely low estimates, then inflated prices after loading and withheld delivery until consumers paid. Balknight was flagged Armed and Dangerous. He has been captured.

Operation Stow Biz / Advanced Moving Systems (Florida, 2003): Shlomo Molaim, Tamir Cohen, Choni Aloul, Guy Ashkenazi, Eddei Benita, Oshri Cohen, Eyal Zeira, Zion Rokah, Eli Peretz, Itzhak Luzon, Yosef Schvartzman, Simo Elbaz, Sivan Maoz.

Related 2003 Florida indictments: Moshe Elmakias (Moving Systems Inc / AAA Van Lines), Moshe Bachar, Shai Oren, Yuval Perez, Neil Shlomo Liebich, Eyal Malul, Edmond Ben-Ami.

AY Transport / Progressive Van Lines (California, 2007): Barak Braunshtain (Armed and Dangerous), Amit Ezyoni (Armed and Dangerous), Asaf Nass. Captured: Eli Kaupp.

ASAP Relocations (California, 2013): Roni Hayon, Adii Therese Karter, Noam Israeli, Ido Or, Elazar Nisanov.

MTF Relocation (California, 2011): Oren Avitan, Yehuda Avitan.

Other California: Edan Elbaz (2011), Eran Bar.

Harris County TX: Jovan H. Balknight (Armed and Dangerous, Captured).

All fugitives can be reported to DOT OIG at 1-800-424-9071 or to local police. Full profiles with photographs at oig.dot.gov/wanted-fugitives.

Active fugitives charged with Fraud Involving Moving Company (30):

Barak Braunshtain (Armed and Dangerous) Amit Ezyoni (Armed and Dangerous) Roni Hayon Noam Israeli Adii Therese Karter Elazar Nisanov Ido Or Shlomo Molaim Eran Bar Tamir Cohen Asaf Nass Yosef Schvartzman Itzhak Luzon Eli Peretz Zion Rokah Eyal Zeira Oshri Cohen Eddei Benita Guy Ashkenazi Choni Aloul Moshe Bachar Edmond Ben-Ami Shai Oren Eyal Malul Yuval Perez Neil Shlomo Liebich Sivan Maoz Moshe Elmakias Simo Elbaz Edan Elbaz Oren Avitan Yehuda Avitan

Captured: Eli Kaupp (Fraud Involving Moving Company) Jovan H. Balknight (Fraud Involving Moving Company, Armed and Dangerous)

All fugitives can be reported to DOT OIG at 1-800-424-9071 or to local police. Full profiles with photographs are available at oig.dot.gov/wanted-fugitives.

The DOT OIG Most Wanted list is the end point of the enforcement pipeline. These are the cases that made it all the way through: investigation, grand jury indictment, arrest warrants. They represent the tiny fraction of moving fraud that resulted in criminal charges.

For context: FMCSA's complaint database received over 4,400 household goods complaints in 2025 alone. FMCSA reports 7,632 carriers with household goods authority, hundreds with double-digit complaint counts. The DOT OIG list contains 34 moving fraud fugitives accumulated over many years.

The ratio of consumer complaints to criminal fugitives is roughly 10,000 to 1. For every person on this list, thousands of consumers filed complaints that never resulted in criminal charges.

The OIG investigates, but it does not have unlimited resources. Its semiannual report shows approximately 7 HHG-related investigations closed in 2023-2024 out of 203 total DOT OIG investigations. That is 3.4% of the OIG's investigative caseload dedicated to an industry generating thousands of complaints per year.

Criminal prosecution of moving fraud requires years of investigation, interagency coordination (DOT OIG, FBI, state AGs, local DAs), and victims willing to testify. The ASAP Relocations case took from 2005 (first fraud) to 2013 (indictment) to 2015 (final sentencing). A decade from crime to consequence, and five of eight defendants were never caught.

The fugitive list is evidence that criminal enforcement exists. It is also evidence of how rarely it succeeds.

If you recognize anyone on the DOT OIG Most Wanted Fugitives list, or have information about their location, contact:

DOT Office of Inspector General: 1-800-424-9071 Or your local police department.

Full fugitive profiles with photographs: oig.dot.gov/wanted-fugitives

If you have been the victim of moving fraud and want to report it, file a complaint at nccdb.fmcsa.dot.gov or call 1-888-368-7238. You can also report to your state attorney general and submit your story to Trunk at trunk.lorea.ai/submit-story.