{"id":78149,"date":"2026-09-04T00:28:36","date_gmt":"2026-09-04T04:28:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/?p=78149"},"modified":"2026-09-04T00:28:42","modified_gmt":"2026-09-04T04:28:42","slug":"fbi-offers-reward-for-information-leading-to-the-arrest-of-onur-simsek-latest-addition-to-the-fbi-most-wanted-fraudsters-list","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/2026\/09\/04\/fbi-offers-reward-for-information-leading-to-the-arrest-of-onur-simsek-latest-addition-to-the-fbi-most-wanted-fraudsters-list\/","title":{"rendered":"FBI Offers Reward for Information Leading to the Arrest of Onur Simsek, Latest Addition to the FBI Most Wanted Fraudsters List"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Onur Simsek, a Turkish national wanted for his alleged involvement in a sophisticated defense procurement fraud scheme targeting the United States Department of Defense. Simsek has been added to the FBI\u2019s newly established Most Wanted Fraudsters List, which highlights individuals charged with defrauding the American people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Between April 2019 and February 2022, Simsek and others allegedly used a Central Florida company as a front to obtain contracts to supply critical military components. Although the company claimed to be a vetted and qualified U.S. manufacturer, the components were actually produced in Turkey. They were then shipped to the United States and repackaged to appear compliant with U.S. production requirements and product specifications.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On October 25, 2023, the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida issued a federal arrest warrant for Simsek. He is charged with:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Conspiracy to defraud the U.S. Government<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Conspiracy to commit wire fraud<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Wire fraud<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Conspiracy to commit money laundering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Money laundering<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Conspiracy to commit export control violations<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Violation of the Export Control Reform Act of 2018<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2022 Violations of the Arms Export Control Act<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis deception could have seriously compromised our national security; however, the proactive partnership in place allowed us to avoid a worst-case scenario. The FBI and its law enforcement partners are committed to exposing procurement fraud schemes to protect sensitive intellectual property from falling into the wrong hands and ultimately placing American lives at risk.\u201d, said FBI Tampa Division Special Agent in Charge Rodney E. Crawford.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIn 2018, Onur Simsek was barred from doing business with the U.S. government, yet he proceeded to engage in a conspiracy to defraud the Department of Defense (DOD) by entering into contracts to manufacture military components,\u201d said U.S. Attorney Gregory W. Kehoe, Middle District of Florida. \u201cHe deliberately concealed, misrepresented, and submitted false claims to the government for his personal gain, at the expense of American taxpayers. For that, he must be brought to justice.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSubmitting false certifications to the Defense Logistics Agency and deliberately introducing substandard components into our military’s supply chain is not just financial fraud; it is a direct threat to national security and the lives of our service members, said Acting Special Agent in Charge Nakia M. Alexander of the Department of Defense Office of Inspector General\u2019s Defense Criminal Investigative Service (DCIS), Southeast Field Office. \u201cBy placing Onur Simsek on the FBI\u2019s ‘Most Wanted Fraudsters’ list, we are mobilizing global resources and the eyes of the public to bring this individual to justice. Let this serve as a clear warning to anyone who seeks to defraud our military: DCIS and our partners will vigorously investigate allegations of procurement fraud and the illegal export of sensitive U.S. Military material.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOnur Simsek was part of a procurement fraud scheme that provided substandard parts to the U.S. military. He allegedly carried out this scheme after being debarred from U.S. government contracting due to a conviction for similar crimes,\u201d said Special Agent in Charge Elisa Pellegrini of the U.S. General Services Administration Office of Inspector General Mid-Atlantic Investigations Division. \u201cGSA OIG special agents will continue working closely with law enforcement partners and the Department of Justice to hold fraudsters accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“GSA applauds the FBI\u2019s addition of Onur Simsek to its Most Wanted Fraudsters list,” said GSA Administrator Edward C. Forst. “Simsek\u2019s alleged procurement fraud deprived taxpayers of value, denied honest businesses fair opportunity, and diverted critical resources from American warfighters. Under President Trump and Vice President Vance, GSA will continue working relentlessly to identify and hold accountable those who try to cheat the federal marketplace and steal from the American people.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The FBI believes Simsek is currently residing in Turkey. Anyone with information regarding Simsek is encouraged to contact the FBI. Tips may be submitted online at tips.fbi.gov, by calling 1-800-CALL-FBI, or by contacting any FBI field office. Tipsters may remain anonymous.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The FBI is offering a reward of up to $150,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Onur Simsek, a Turkish national wanted for his alleged involvement in… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":78150,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_seopress_robots_follow":"","_seopress_robots_imageindex":"","_seopress_robots_snippet":"","_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_robots_breadcrumbs":"","_seopress_robots_freeze_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_custom_modified_date":"","_seopress_robots_canonical":"","_seopress_social_fb_title":"","_seopress_social_fb_desc":"","_seopress_social_fb_img":"","_seopress_social_fb_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_fb_img_height":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_title":"","_seopress_social_twitter_desc":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img":"","_seopress_social_twitter_img_attachment_id":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_width":0,"_seopress_social_twitter_img_height":0,"_seopress_redirections_value":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled":"","_seopress_redirections_enabled_regex":"","_seopress_redirections_logged_status":"","_seopress_redirections_param":"","_seopress_redirections_type":0,"_seopress_analysis_target_kw":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uf_show_specific_survey":0,"_uf_disable_surveys":false,"wpai_generated_summary":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"{title}\n\n{excerpt}\n\n{url}","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"dois","default_image_id":71799,"font":"","enabled":true,"token":"eyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvaTAud3AuY29tXC9sYWtlbGFuZGdhemV0dGUuaW5mb1wvbmV3c1wvd3AtY29udGVudFwvdXBsb2Fkc1wvMjAyNlwvMDlcL2Rvd25sb2FkLndlYnA_Zml0PTE5MyUyQzI2MiZzc2w9MSIsInR4dCI6IkZCSSBPZmZlcnMgUmV3YXJkIGZvciBJbmZvcm1hdGlvbiBMZWFkaW5nIHRvIHRoZSBBcnJlc3Qgb2YgT251ciBTaW1zZWssIExhdGVzdCBBZGRpdGlvbiB0byB0aGUgRkJJIE1vc3QgV2FudGVkIEZyYXVkc3RlcnMgTGlzdCIsInRlbXBsYXRlIjoiZG9pcyIsImZvbnQiOiIiLCJibG9nX2lkIjoxNjMwNDA2NjF9.mV-lYCaMHbRRglywIeNDWy91uzrvrnLn1SxJgXaOpIwMQ"},"version":2,"media_source":"sig","attached_media":[{"id":0,"url":"https:\/\/jetpack.com\/redirect\/?source=sigenerate&query=t%3DeyJpbWciOiJodHRwczpcL1wvbGFrZWxhbmRnYXpldHRlLmluZm9cL25ld3NcL3dwLWNvbnRlbnRcL3VwbG9hZHNcLzIwMjZcLzA5XC9kb3dubG9hZC53ZWJwIiwidHh0IjoiRkJJIE9mZmVycyBSZXdhcmQgZm9yIEluZm9ybWF0aW9uIExlYWRpbmcgdG8gdGhlIEFycmVzdCBvZiBPbnVyIFNpbXNlaywgTGF0ZXN0IEFkZGl0aW9uIHRvIHRoZSBGQkkgTW9zdCBXYW50ZWQgRnJhdWRzdGVycyBMaXN0IiwidGVtcGxhdGUiOiJkb2lzIiwiZm9udCI6IiIsImJsb2dfaWQiOjE2MzA0MDY2MX0.k5DvajcdbqYSmxTpnC-ynq8A_CHZk0HlvD7QUcVrKkMMQ","type":"image\/jpeg"}]},"_wpas_customize_per_network":false},"categories":[14],"tags":[16747,16749,16748],"class_list":["post-78149","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-fbi-offers-reward","tag-most-wanted-fraudsters-list","tag-onur-simsek"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78149","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=78149"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78149\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":78151,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/78149\/revisions\/78151"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/78150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=78149"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=78149"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lakelandgazette.info\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=78149"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}