Noumena: True Story of Reza

By Milad Kalantari

Reza, a reserved Iranian citizen, while living in Iran, won the Green Card Lottery and migrated to the Unites States. As soon as he stepped on American soil, he was arrested. After being accused of defrauding the U.S. out of 4.7 billion dollars, he was ultimately sentenced to 10 years in federal prison.

In this biograp

• Language: English
• Publisher: Milad Kalantari
• Release date: Nov 16, 2020
• ISBN: 9781087928470

Book preview

Noumena:

True Story of Reza

Milad R.K.

Copyright © 2019 Milad Rezaei Kalantari

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, or by any means without prior consent of the author and publisher as a collective, except brief quotes used in reviews.

Cover Photo: Caspian Sea at Mazandaran, Iran

ISBN- 9798624154872

Printed in the USA

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

FIRST TO THANK is Victor Chostak from Ukraine, who has done most of the editing and typing of my manuscript. This book could not have been possible without his support and pivotal contribution. A very special thanks to Antonin Dehays, a French historian and author of Sainte-Mere-Eglise, for his positive criticism and constructive feedback. I am grateful to Byron Dorsey founder and CEO of Bloc Extension publishing for assisting me in writing the synopsis.

Big thanks to Darrell Bracey Jr., author of novels such as Concrete Jungle and A Gain For A Loss, for sharing his experiences as a writer. Also, I would like to give special thanks to Crystell Publications, for providing the publishing services that turned my manuscript into a published book. A very special appreciation goes to my cellmate, my Mexican brother, Luis Villasenor. His tolerance through all the nights I kept the light on to write as he was sleeping cannot be understated. I am also indebted to a friend, who preferred to be left anonymous in my acknowledgements, for his financial sponsorship to self-publishing my book. Lastly, I would like to thank my international friends:

Mehr K. from Belgium, Cela T. from Albania, Janusz R. from Poland, Andrey T. from Estonia, Kristaps B. from Latvia, Dino N. from Bosnia, Mohammad A. from Iraq, Vineet K. from India, Kamal E. from Spain, and Mohammad F. from Pakistan. To those I’ve failed to mention, my friends from Mexico, Europe, Africa, Latin America, Eastern Asia and the USA, I offer my deepest gratitude and apology.

Noumena: True Story of Reza

Noumena: Plural of Noumenon:

an object that is conceived by reason and consequently thinkable but is not knowable by the senses.

an object of purely rational apprehension as opposed to an object of perception.

Merriam–Webster Dictionary

To

Masoumeh,

My wife and my best friend.

No mirror in this world can show her beauty, but my eyes.

My father,

Whose blood I’m proud to carry in my veins.

My mother,

Whose breath keeps me alive.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements……………………………………...    iii

Preface…………………………………………………...  viii

Chapter 1: Reza………………………………………….      1

Chapter 2: Session Timeout…………………………….. 18

Chapter 3: Jail to Prison………………………………… 46

Chapter 4: The Crime…………………………………… 67

Chapter 5: Hanna………………………………………... 90

Chapter 6: Sara…………………………………………... 101

Appendix:                                                                         

Beyond My Ken……………………………… 112

Kiasar, Mazandaran, Iran…………………….. 119

Epilogue…………………………………………………. 128

preface

Sitting on a sofa, drinking warm coffee, having a fresh and relaxed mind are the ideal conditions for writing a story; especially about the hardships of life. Most stories like this would have been written from home, without stress and with lots of concentration. Under these conditions, it would be easy to exaggerate the words in order to expand the small events and to make the reality more emotional.

However, when you go through pain, and at the same time, describe it, you get closer to the truth. This story was written from a prison cell, on multiple pieces of different types of papers. It was typed on an old typewriter, and sometimes the whole page had to be retyped – just because of a single mistake.

All of these efforts have been done to tell the story of Reza; a 30-year-old Iranian man who immigrated to the United States and was arrested the minute he set foot on the Promised Land.

He was accused of a 4.7-billion-dollar loss to the U.S. economy and ultimately sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment for an estimated 1.2 billion dollars loss.

Many of us would be satisfied after reading this cold statement without substance. After all, this anonymous individual from an exotic country – a country deeply hostile towards the U.S. – simply received the punishment he deserved. Others might be willing to listen to the true story of Reza, not just only a criminal, but also an inspiring young man.

Without further delay, I will provide you with a glimpse into his personal life from the streets of Sari, Iran, to an obscure prison facility in North Carolina.

ASSOCIATED PRESS; Feb 12th, 2016:

Iranian man pleads not guilty in bank fraud case.

GULFPORT, Miss. (AP) - An Iranian national accused of selling financial information stolen from thousands of customers at three Southern Mississippi banks was arrested after flying to New York upon winning a lottery that allowed him to obtain a U.S. permanent resident visa. The Sun Herald reports that a federal agent’s affidavit says 30-year-old Reza pleaded not guilty to a 16-count indictment, Wednesday in U.S. District court in Gulfport. Reza is accused of operating websites that sell stolen financial information.

In December, federal agents investigating Reza learned that he had won what is known as, the green card lottery and would be flying to the U.S. later that month. Authorities arrested Reza upon his arrival at New York City, John F. Kennedy International Airport.

USAO - Mississippi, Southern; October 8th, 2016:

Iranian citizen pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit identity theft and Access Device Fraud.

Gulfport, Miss. - Reza, 31, an Iranian citizen pleaded guilty on Oct. 6, 2016 before a U.S. District judge to conspiracy to commit identity theft and access device fraud. In June 2014, HSI Gulfport had identified Reza as the main facilitator in an international financial fraud organization. Through the course of the investigation, HSI Gulfport identified Reza as the owner/operator of numerous websites dedicated to the distribution and sale of stolen/compromised credit card information from victims all over the world. This information included citizens and banks located in the United States. Reza was ultimately arrested as he made entry into the United States in Dec. 2015, at John F. Kennedy International Airport. To date, HSI Gulfport has identified approximately 2.5 million credit cards that were sold on Reza’s websites. The intended loss amount attributable to Reza and his organization is currently valued at over $1.2 billion.

HSI Gulfport is currently working with Visa, Master Card, American Express and Discover to assess the damage and loss amount suffered by U.S. victims and banks, attributable to Reza’s organization.

Department of Justice; March 9th, 2017:

Iranian member of International cybercrime conspiracy sentenced to 10 years in prison for selling stolen credit card information online.

An Iranian man was sentenced today to 120 months in federal prison for conspiracy to commit identity theft and access device fraud, in connection with an international scheme to sell credit card information online.

Reza, 32, an Iranian citizen, was sentenced by a U.S. District Judge of the Southern District of Mississippi. Reza was arrested in Dec. 2015, when he entered the United States at JFK International Airport in New York City. On Oct. 6, 2016, Reza pleaded guilty. As part of the plea, Reza admitted that he was a member of a financial fraud conspiracy that owned and operated numerous websites dedicated to the distribution and sale of stolen credit and debit card information belonging to victims all over the world - including citizens and banks located throughout the United States. As part of the scheme, Reza sold approximately 2.5 million stolen credit cards on his website, with an intended loss amount valued at over $1.2 billion. More than $35 million in actual losses have been confirmed with U.S. companies including more than $26 million in losses to Discover Card and almost $5 million in losses to American Express.

Sun Herald Newspaper; March 11th, 2017:

Man who hacked credit cards of Coast residents must repay millions.

An Iranian national who sold stolen credit and debit card numbers - including those of Mississippians- has been sentenced to prison for 10 years and ordered to make restitution of $36,579,901.56. Reza was sentenced in U.S. District court on Thursday in a case that involved the sale of about 2.5 million stolen card information on his members-only website. Actual loss was more than $35 million, including more than $26 million in losses to Discover and almost $5 million to American Express, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said in a news release.

Reza ran an international cybercrime scheme uncovered by Homeland Security Investigations. He pleaded guilty in October to a conspiracy said to have run for 11 years until January. Reza had recently won the free green card lottery to become a permanent U.S. resident. The lottery is a federal program available for eligible immigrants. HSI agents said they learned Reza had won the lottery and planned to move to America. HSI agents from Gulfport, Tampa and New York City arrested him Dec. 21 as he arrived at John F. Kennedy International Airport.

This is a quick glance at some of the news articles about Reza. Although the news reported the facts, the story has to be seen from a wider angle in order to fill in the facts in their right content, answering the questions, the world yet doesn’t know.

There are some words that are not meant to be shared with others. Some things you experience are simply meant to remain only for you. You feel it, but it is not easy to convey to others. For example, if I tell somebody that, I’m in the mouth of a lion, but this lion will give me a ride, he would look at me and wonder, What is he talking about? People are generally only used to experiencing five senses. Yet, any experience outside of the five senses we recognize, would simply be a ‘syntax error’ to them.

My life was full of such experiences, and I feel as if I am observing my life.

- Reza

CHAPTER 1

Reza …

On a Friday night, as the earth was orbiting around the sun for the 1985th time after Christ, the main character of our story – Reza was born in a green region with excellent weather and fertile land.

Excellent weather means a four-season weather: cool spring; a bit warm and humid summer; cool and rainy fall; and a little bit cold, yet rarely snowy winter. The air is always fresh and clean. Fertile land means you eat an orange, throw away the seeds, and then next year discover that those seeds have become a citrus orange tree. The mildness of climate made this area between the Caspian Sea and Damavand Mountains a paradise. Located north of Iran, this area was also known as Mazandaran Province.

Reza’s birth came with a funny story. Technically, Reza was born against the holy plan of his parents. They intended to have five kids: a girl and four boys. Those children would be respectively named, Hanna, Ali, Hassan,