FBI arrests two in Great Moving case, subject of BBB investigation

Milwaukee, Wis. – The FBI arrested two people in connection with Great Moving,  a company claiming to be located in Green Bay, Wis. that Better Business Bureau Serving Wisconsin alerted the public about in July.

Yakov Monoz, president of Great Moving, and Tal Ohana, an employee, both of New York, were charged with wire fraud and wire fraud conspiracy by misrepresenting estimated charges for moving services and then requiring customers to pay additional fees that far exceeded the original estimate in order to recover their belongings, according to the FBI’s release. Moroz and Ohana were arrested on August 5 and made their initial appearance in Federal Court in New York.

In its release, the FBI also thanked Better Business Bureau for its assistance with the investigation.

“BBB investigations are an important and vital part of our operations and what we do every day,” said Jim Temmer, president/CEO of BBB Serving Wisconsin. “We are happy when we see justice brought to perpetrators that defraud the public.”

BBB opened its investigation in January 2020 and has processed 49 complaints from consumers in 26 states.  According to these complaints, the company would double or triple the quoted estimate on the day of the move by adding extra, and often unnecessary fees, such as a shuttle service fee. Complainants also told BBB of their items being “held hostage” until additional fees were paid, lost or damaged items, delivery times not being met, and non-responsive customer service.

Although Great Moving listed an address on Mason Street in Green Bay on its U.S. Department of Transportation license, as well as on company invoices, it was never located there. In addition, although the company claimed on its website, www.greatmovingusa.com, to donate to several charities, it did not respond to BBB’s request to substantiate these donations. A representative from the Gary Sinise Foundation, one of the charities listed on Great Moving’s website, confirmed to BBB that the company has not made any donations to the foundation.

For more information, read BBB’s original alert here. For an online version of this alert, click here.

For more information or further inquiries, contact the Wisconsin BBB at www.bbb.org/wisconsin, 414-847-6000 or 1-800-273-1002. Consumers also can find more information about how to protect themselves from scams by following the Wisconsin BBB on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and YouTube.

ABOUT BBB: For more than 100 years, the Better Business Bureau has been helping people find businesses, brands and charities they can trust. In 2019, people turned to BBB more than 183 million times for BBB Business Profiles on more than 5.8 million businesses and Charity Reports on 11,000 charities, all available for free at bbb.org. There are local, independent BBBs across the United States, Canada and Mexico, including BBB Serving Wisconsin which was founded in 1939 and serves the state of Wisconsin.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.