Brothers sentenced in connection to robberies at DFW cell phone stores in $100M scheme
.jpg "Two North Texas men indicted on robbery, conspiracy and money laundering charges in a high-profile 2021 case have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay tens of millions in damages.")
Two North Texas men indicted on robbery, conspiracy and money laundering charges in a high-profile 2021 case have been sentenced to prison and ordered to pay tens of millions in damages.
Brothers Abdul Basit Bhangda and Arsalan “Adam” Bhangda, both from Plano, allegedly purchased stolen goods from a string of armed “takeover-style” robberies at AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon stores in the Dallas-fort Worth area and Houston in October 2020.
Following an investigation involving the FBI, Homeland Security, the U.S. Secret Service, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the Texas Department of Public Safety, several local police departments and other agencies, 101 people were charged in a plot centered on shipping $100 million worth of stolen cell phones, tablets, laptops and smart watches to the United Arab Emirates and Hong Kong where the devices were then sold abroad.
On Jan. 14 the Bhangdas pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Texas to conspiracy to commit wire fraud. U.S. District Judge Sean Jordan sentenced them each to six years in prison followed by three years of supervised probation, and each was ordered to pay $11.9 million in restitution.
In addition to those penalties, the brothers forfeited real estate property in Dallas, a 2016 BMW 750i and more than $600,000 in currency and bank account funds.
The original indictment alleged the Bhangda brothers operated out of their Dallas cell phone shop, Global One Wireless, and acted through parent company, RJ Wirless, to sell the stolen property overseas.
The case originally broke open after a crew robbed a Fort Worth AT&T store in December 2020.
Another defendant in the case, Jerome Omega Boulden, Jr., who was arrested in connection with the robberies, pleaded guilty in 2023 and was sentenced to 20 years in prison and three years of supervised probation. He was ordered to pay $328,000 in restitution.
Other defendants in the case are still awaiting trial. The U.S. Attorney’s Office declined to comment until the case has been completely adjudicated.
This story was originally published February 3, 2025 at 4:29 PM.