PHILADELPHIA, PA — An Ohio man was sentenced Tuesday in Philadelphia to five years in federal prison and ordered to pay $578,221 in restitution for his role in a scheme that fraudulently obtained more than 20 rental vehicles and sold them to buyers who exported the cars overseas.
U.S. District Judge Kelley Brisbon Hodge also sentenced Souleymane Kah, 36, of Westerville, Ohio, to three years of supervised release.
Kah pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy and two counts of transportation of stolen vehicles. Federal prosecutors charged him by superseding indictment in September 2025.
According to court filings and statements, Kah and others participated in the scheme from about December 2020 through December 2021, targeting rental-car companies across the central and eastern United States.
The group fraudulently rented vehicles using genuine driver’s licenses belonging to people who were unaware their identities were being used, prosecutors stated. Participants also used fraudulent driver’s licenses created for the scheme.
Kah and his co-conspirators transported or arranged the transportation of vehicles across state lines before selling them to buyers who subsequently exported them overseas, according to federal prosecutors.
The sellers received payments through cash and electronic money-transfer applications and, in at least one instance, accepted a luxury vehicle as payment.
The FBI and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Meghan Claiborne Bisio and Kara Traster prosecuted it.
Support the local news that supports Chester County. MyChesCo delivers reliable, fact-based reporting and essential community resources—free for everyone. If you value that, click here to become a patron today.