One Call Center, Eight Fake Names, 300 Victims: Inside the Gold Standard Moving Scam

In November 2021, CBS Los Angeles reported that Gold Standard Moving and Storage, a Florida-based moving broker, was under criminal investigation after dozens of families lost their belongings. Customers who hired the company for cross-country moves discovered their deposits were unrelated to who actually performed the move, and their belongings vanished into warehouses on the other side of the country.

The actual carrier doing the moves was East Freight Logistics, an unlicensed company registered at a private home in Jacksonville, Florida, that was actually operating out of Portland, Oregon. By the time federal investigators caught up, the FBI found a 30,000-square-foot warehouse in Salem, Oregon containing 450 pallets of belongings from more than 300 victims.

The case ended in March 2025 with over $4 million in final judgments and lifetime industry bans for all three operators of the brokerage scheme.

Gold Standard Moving and Storage LLC (USDOT 3422711, MC 1106845) registered with FMCSA as a broker in Pompano Beach, Florida. The company was operated by three partners: Charles Gordon Abrams, Daniel J. Metz, and Rudolph Logan Rice.

But Gold Standard was not one company. According to the Florida Attorney General's civil complaint filed December 8, 2022, the three operators ran a single call center that posed as at least eight different moving companies: Executive Van Lines, Imperial Moving Group, National American Van Lines, Razor Van Lines, Simple Path Moving, Spartan Moving and Storage, United American Moving, and Us Pro Moving and Logistics.

When one name accumulated too many bad reviews, they rotated to the next. Consumers calling any of these companies reached the same people at the same call center.

The operation worked like this: Gold Standard's salespeople quoted low prices and collected large upfront deposits. They told customers it was too late to cancel without forfeiting their deposit. They never disclosed who would actually perform the move. Then they hired the cheapest third-party carriers they could find. The estimates bore no relation to the final cost. When the moves went wrong, they refused the refunds they had promised.

One of the carriers Gold Standard hired was East Freight Logistics LLC, registered in Florida in September 2020 with Marlene Gonzalez listed as agent. The company's address was 522 Jackson Road in Jacksonville, but when a reporter visited, a man at the home said the business was actually based in Portland, Oregon.

East Freight was not licensed to conduct household goods moves in California or most other states where it operated. In 2021 alone, the U.S. Department of Transportation received 93 complaints against the company, nearly all for non-delivery of goods.

Customers described a consistent pattern. Their belongings were picked up, a delivery window of 7 to 21 days was promised, and then the company went silent. Phone calls were blocked. Delivery dates were pushed back indefinitely. Some customers waited months. Others never received their belongings at all.

One customer, Sherri Kasuba, reported being assaulted by a mover during pickup in the Palm Springs area. She filed a complaint with the Cathedral City Police Department, which opened a criminal investigation.

Federal investigators eventually traced the missing belongings to Oregon. FBI Special Agent Kieran Ramsey obtained a warrant for a 30,000-square-foot warehouse in Salem, Oregon. Inside, agents found 450 pallets of household goods belonging to people who had been scammed by the operation.

The warehouse was not the only storage site. Investigators discovered at least a dozen smaller storage facilities across the Portland area and Marion County, all holding belongings from East Freight Logistics customers.

The victims came from every state east of the Rockies. Michele and Ron Mitliori paid East Freight to move their belongings from Nevada to Arkansas in August 2021. Three weeks later, the company could not locate their items and stopped returning calls. Their belongings were sitting in the Salem warehouse.

The FBI described it as the largest moving fraud case in Oregon history. The agency's priority shifted to reuniting approximately 300 victims with their missing belongings. FMCSA shut down East Freight Logistics, permanently revoking its ability to transport household goods.

East Freight Logistic LLC was officially dissolved in Florida on September 23, 2022. A separate National Labor Relations Board case (19-CA-296059) named the company under its DBA "Ortiz Services" and an individual, Miguel Alberti, for retaliating against workers who raised complaints.

On December 8, 2022, the Florida Attorney General's Consumer Protection Division, working with the DOT Office of Inspector General, filed civil complaints against Gold Standard Moving and Storage LLC, Charles Abrams, and their affiliated companies.

The complaints alleged the defendants operated a "common enterprise to deceive" that had defrauded more than 400 Florida consumers and additional victims nationwide. The AG's office documented how the call center rotated through company names, misrepresented carrier operations, collected deposits under false pretenses, and refused promised refunds.

A settlement agreement was reached in November 2023. Final judgments came down on March 6, 2025.

The final judgments imposed by the U.S. District Court and the Florida Attorney General's Office were among the largest moving fraud penalties on record.

Gold Standard Moving and Storage LLC was ordered to pay $3,019,000 in restitution and civil penalties. Charles Gordon Abrams was personally ordered to pay $400,000 in consumer relief. Daniel J. Metz was ordered to pay $202,208.70. Rudolph Logan Rice was ordered to pay $89,915.

All three individuals received lifetime bans from the moving industry. They are permanently prohibited from operating, owning, or being involved in any household goods moving or brokerage company.

Gold Standard's FMCSA broker authority was revoked. The company's DOT number (3422711) remains listed as "Active" in the SAFER database but shows "Not Authorized" for operating authority. It is effectively defunct.

This case illustrates a structural vulnerability in how the moving industry is regulated. Gold Standard operated as a broker. It never owned a truck, never employed a driver, and never physically moved a single box. Its entire business was taking deposits and hiring carriers.

FMCSA's broker registration system allowed one operation to exist simultaneously as Gold Standard, Executive Van Lines, Imperial Moving Group, National American Van Lines, Razor Van Lines, Simple Path Moving, Spartan Moving and Storage, United American Moving, and Us Pro Moving and Logistics. Consumers had no practical way to know these were all the same call center.

The carrier it hired, East Freight Logistics, was unlicensed for the moves it was performing. Its registered address was a private home 3,000 miles from where it was actually operating. Its belongings sat in warehouses across Oregon while customers in dozens of states waited for deliveries that would never come.

Between the broker and the carrier, the operation generated over 500 federal complaints, triggered investigations by the FBI, DOT-OIG, FMCSA, Florida AG, and local police departments in multiple states, and left hundreds of families without their belongings for months or permanently.

Moving brokers are not moving companies. A broker takes your deposit and hires someone else to do the move. Federal law requires brokers to disclose this, but many do not.

Before hiring any moving company, verify them on FMCSA's SAFER database at safer.fmcsa.dot.gov. Check whether they are registered as a "Carrier" or a "Broker." If the company is a broker, ask who will actually perform the move and verify that carrier separately.

Search every company name plus "scam" or "complaints" before signing. If the company has changed names recently or operates under multiple brands, that is a significant red flag.

Never pay large deposits by cash, Zelle, or Venmo. Use a credit card so you have chargeback protection if the company fails to deliver. Get a written, binding estimate and confirm the delivery window in writing.

If your belongings are not delivered within the contracted timeframe, file a complaint with FMCSA at fmcsa.dot.gov/protect-your-move and contact your state attorney general's consumer protection division.

This report was produced by Trunk, a consumer research platform for the moving industry. All findings are based on publicly available records: FMCSA SAFER database, DOT Office of Inspector General reports, Florida Attorney General filings, National Labor Relations Board case records, Better Business Bureau profiles, published news reports from CBS Los Angeles, KGW Portland, Salem Reporter, Click Orlando, WFLA, Kokomo Tribune, and Newsweek. No private or proprietary databases were used.