The specifics of Payza’s business operations have always been murky.

We knew the company was co-founded by brothers Firoz and Ferhan Patel, Canadian citizens, who operated Payza via the UK shell company MH Pillars.

Beyond that though specifics have been elusive… up until now.

Following a federal indictment of the Patel brothers earlier this month, the scope and magnitude of their criminal enterprise have been revealed.

The federal indictment states the Grand Jury hearing the case was sworn in on November 3rd, 2016.

The indictment however wasn’t returned until March 8th, 2018.

In it, Firoz and Ferhan Patel stand accused of operating

a money transmitting business that operated without the necessary state licenses and knowingly transmitted funds that were derived from illegal activity.

MH Pillars, the latest incarnation of the Patel brothers criminal enterprise, began in 2012.

The
indictment
however goes back further than that, beginning with the incorporation of AlertPay in 2005.

Between 2005 and 2011

regulators from Arkansas, Georgia, Kentucky, New Hampshire, New York, and North Dakota notified co-conspirator AlertPay about its unlicensed activity in their respective states.

In 2011 an unnamed “outside consultant”

warned (the Patel brothers) that AlertPay was operating illegally without state licenses, which could lead to their arrest.

In 2012 it became public that, among other things, AlertPay had ‘
taken on customers trafficking in child pornography.
‘

Rather than cease enabling illegal businesses to continue to operate however, in May 2012 the Patel simply renamed AlertPay to Payza.

In an attempt to diversify their criminal enterprise after the AlertPay child pornography scandal, EgoPay was also simultaneously launched.

By that stage however the damage had been done and Firoz Patel didn’t emerge unscathed.

On June 7th, 2012, Patel was

indicted on two counts of money laundering associated with his operation of AlertPay to launder illicit proceeds derived from the importation and distribution of anabolic steroids and other controlled substances.

Despite the indictment Firoz Patel remained a free man and, along with his brother, through Payza and EgoPay continued to provide payment processing services to criminal organizations.

Payza’s customers were primarily merchants operating Ponzi and

Pyramid schemes, High Yield Investment Programs, Money Cyclers, and Multi-Level Marketing schemes with no products, and the related victims of such schemes.

This was probably the golden era of online scamming. The
now defunct MoneyMakerGroup forum
was thriving and, for the most part, operators and promoters of MLM scams operated with impunity.

These days the MLM underbelly is more of a cloak and dagger affair. Scams are secretly promoted in closed Facebook and Telegram groups and more often than not utilize cryptocurrency.

But I digress…

Over the years Payza attracted the attention of regulators in California, Connecticut, Kansas, K

🤖 Quick Answer

Who were the founders of Payza and how was the company structured?
Payza was co-founded by brothers Firoz and Ferhan Patel, Canadian citizens. The company operated through MH Pillars, a shell company registered in the United Kingdom, which served as the primary vehicle for conducting their business operations and financial activities.

What were the main criminal charges against the Patel brothers?
The federal indictment charged Firoz and Ferhan Patel with operating an unlicensed money transmitting business and knowingly transmitting funds derived from illegal activities. The Grand Jury was sworn in November 2016, with the indictment formally returned on March 8th, 2018.

What was the scope of Payza's business operations prior to the indictment?
Payza's specific operational details remained unclear until the federal indictment revealed the enterprise's

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