The FBI last week arrested a braggart social media fraudster, a Moroccan national who sparked an investigation after he allegedly bragged about his extortion schemes in a tell-all podcast interview.
Idris Kiva, formerly known as “Dani” or “Unlocked,” was arrested at his Las Vegas home and is facing federal charges related to two criminal felony charges filed by the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Nevada.
According to a criminal complaint obtained by Fox News Digital, the suspect is accused of violating the Interstate Communications Act by sending violent threats via text messages to two victims and their families.
“I couldn’t believe I was in the same room as someone who would do something like that,” Adam Grandmaison, host of the podcast “No Jumper” and better known as Adam 22, told Fox News Digital. “It’s definitely a lot more sinister than I ever imagined.”
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Idris Kiba appeared on Adam Grandmaison’s podcast “No Jumper,” where he told the host that he makes $600,000 a month from over 200 victims. (No jumper)
Kiva ran a website called Unlocked4Life.com, which was still up and running as of Monday, where he promised to unlock customers’ social media accounts, but by his own admission, it was Kiva who was locking the accounts and extorting thousands of dollars to regain access.
He also offered to artificially inflate users’ views and follower counts for a fee, collect personal information about others for his clients, and ban other users on his clients’ behalf.
In an interview with Grand Maison, Kibaa “claimed to have over 200 people paying him monthly to maintain access to his accounts, making over $600,000,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Nevada District Court.
When asked on the podcast why he was going public with the details of his illegal business model, Kiva replied, “If you guys kill me, that’s my only option.”
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Adam Grandmaison (aka Adam22) appeared on a podcast in January alongside Idris Kiba, who alerted authorities to his alleged illegal activities. (No jumper)
“I really wanted people to understand what was going on. No one was talking about it or giving interviews. I was like, Enough already,” Kibaa said in a January interview. “If they want to take over my account, they can’t take out someone like me. I’m like a cockroach.”
The brazen, hour-long interrogation was reported to Federal Investigations, according to the complaint, and investigators quickly realized the suspect was doing more than just targeting social media accounts, pursuing numerous victims including real estate agents, dentists, businessmen, journalists and influencers, according to the complaint.
Kibaa reportedly threatened to destroy the victim’s property and harm and kill the victim and his family.
In one case, Kiva “made threats to shoot and injure,” according to the complaint. [one victim’s] My daughter, my fiancé, my dog, my business partner and his family.”
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Adam Grandmaison, also known as Adam22, is the host of a hip-hop podcast called “No Jumper.” (Adam Grandmaison/No Jumper)
Another victim had her Instagram account locked and was subsequently informed that a California dentist who previously treated the victim at her last employer had allegedly hired Kibaa to provide treatment.
She was contacted by someone calling himself “Unlocked,” who bombarded her with more than 2,000 SMS messages, threatening to “expose” her Social Security number unless she paid $20,000.
In another incident, the suspect went to the victim’s home, grabbed rocks from the driveway and used them to smash the windshields of a white Bentley and a white Mercedes-Benz, which were captured on security cameras, documents state.
Grandmason told Fox News Digital that the interview with the suspect “in some way, [Qibaa] Get off the streets.”
Grandmaison, who has interviewed singers and rappers such as Usher and XXXTentacion, said he’s spoken to people from all walks of life in the underground world for the podcast, including “guys who were hitmen, full-blown drug dealers, pimps, prostitutes.”
But the complaint says his interview with Kiva, who was known as “Dani” or “Unlocked,” stood out.
“Usually when you have a conversation with a rapper who’s involved in any kind of illegal activity, there’s always the glaring issue that it shouldn’t be said on camera,” the podcast host said. “If they’re going to say something, it’s going to be in a coded form.”
“But this guy seems willing to discuss everything that makes up his business, and I was just blown away. You think, ‘Why would he want to share this?’
“I was pretty baffled that he was so willing to expose this crap,” he continued.
Grandmaison said that after the January interview, Kibaa also began threatening him.
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“None of this had ever happened to me before I got in contact with this guy,” the host said. “He threatened to make my emails public, he threatened to stop me while I was driving… All of the things he threatened me with were things I knew were impossible.”
According to the complaint, Kiva was not a U.S. citizen but was legally residing in the country.
“Kiva has stated on multiple occasions and in various ways that if he feels pressured by law enforcement or is arrested and posts bail, he will flee back to Morocco and ‘live like a king,'” the FBI said in a statement.
Kiva’s lawyer could not immediately be reached for comment.
