Mohamed Orabi Falsely Claimed He Could Lease Food Truck Vendors NYC-Issued Permits
Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg Jr. today announced the indictment of MOHAMED ORABI, 33, for allegedly stealing more than $50,000 from mobile food vendors by falsely claiming that he could lease them New York City issued permits from October 2024 to November 2025. ORABI is charged in a New York State Supreme Court indictment with three counts of Grand Larceny in the Third Degree. [1]
“New Yorkers were building their businesses as food vendors when Mohamed Orabi allegedly took advantage of their limited knowledge of local regulations to scam them out of thousands of dollars,” said District Attorney Bragg. “This is an ongoing investigation – if you have been scammed, please call our office’s Immigration Affairs Unit hotline at 212-335-3600 or via WhatsApp at 347-371-0877. Interpreters are available to assist non-native English speakers, and we encourage all to reach out regardless of immigration status.”
As alleged in court documents and statements made on the record in court, between October 3, 2024, and November 10, 2025, ORABI stole more than $50,000 from at least two food truck vendors and a pushcart vendor by falsely claiming that he could lease them New York City issued permits. In each case, ORABI told the victims that he could lease them a permit held in his name or arrange for them to lease a permit from another vendor.
In exchange, ORABI allegedly demanded thousands of dollars in cash, which the victims paid in Manhattan and throughout New York City. ORABI told the victims that they would receive their permits after their food truck or cart passed a city pre-permit inspection. He then made a series of excuses to the victims about why the inspection had not occurred as planned and the permit could not be released. None of the victims ever received a permit from ORABI, who did not have any city-issued permits in his name.
As further alleged, ORABI convinced an individual to pay him thousands of dollars to obtain insurance or to clear fines that, he claimed, the victim owed to the New York State Workers’ Compensation Board. ORABI contacted that victim using a phone number claiming it was a third-party insurance broker but was, in fact, secretly registered to ORABI. He never secured insurance for the victim, who, in reality, had not incurred any fines. ORABI also demanded that the victim provide debit card information for a deposit for purported truck modifications. ORABI then misused that debit card information to make $10,000 in unauthorized charges for sports betting.
Assistant D.A.s Dennis Dillon (Financial Frauds Bureau) and Luis Morales (Chief of the Immigrant Affairs Unit) are handling the prosecution of this case under the supervision of Assistant D.A.s Kofi Sansculotte (Chief of the Financial Frauds Bureau) and Judy Salwen (Deputy Chief of the Investigation Division) and Executive Assistant D.A. Jodie Kane (Chief of the Investigation Division).
Financial Frauds Bureau Program Coordinator Fiona Li, Investigative Analyst Natalie Boll, and Paralegal Selena Hernandez assisted with the investigation. Forensic Accounting and Financial Investigations Unit Senior Financial Investigator William Martin also provided assistance under the supervision of Irene Serrapica (Deputy Chief of the Forensic Accounting and Financial Investigations and Robert Demarest (Chief of Forensic Accounting and Financial Investigations).
D.A. Bragg also thanks the NYPD, in particular Detective Eric Bolger of the Financial Crimes Task Force and Detective Julio Tejada of the Organized Theft Squad.
Defendant Information:
Mohamed Orabi
Jersey City, NJ
Charged:
- Grand Larceny in the Third Degree, a class D felony, three counts
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[1] The charges contained in the indictment are merely allegations and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty. All factual recitations are derived from documents filed in court and statements made on the record in court.