A judge at the Federal High Court ordered the arrest and summons of Temesgen Yilma, one of the seven individuals and three companies charged for alleged money laundering, usury and engaging in illegal remittance services. The Court ordered his arrest as the defendant failed to appear before the Court after receiving a warrant.

During the court session held on February 11, 2021, only one of the defendants appeared in court with his lawyer, while the remaining did not. Three of them did not show up since they are overseas. Temesgen and his company TTH Trading Plc, the owner of Yilma Butchery, did not appear before the court despite receiving the warrant. Two other individuals were also absent.

The last session was held to receive a statement of defence from the defendants for the charges federal prosecutors filed at the end of September under eight counts, as well as to receive a report from the National Immigration Nationality & Vital Events Agency about the defendants who are not in the country.

Azeb Mehreteab, founder of Boston Real Estate and JJ Properties; Temesgen, the general Manager at TTH Trading Plc; Haregewoin Tedla, Azeb's representative; and Efrem Mulatu, an actor, and the three companies are among the defendants. After the case was filed, the court reviewed it four times with nine of the defendants in absentia.

Azeb, Haregewoin and Efrem, the codefendants under the first count, are charged for their alleged involvement in usury crimes. The charge accuses Azeb of entering into a 50-million-Br loan deal with Haileyesus Mengistu, a founder of The Big Apple International, owner of Cosmo Trading and New York Café & Restaurant. Haregewoin signed the loan agreement on Azeb's behalf, while Efrem signed as a witness for the loan that had nine percent of usurious interest rates for six months, according to the charge.

While agreeing to lend Haileyesus the money, Azeb took the title deed of his seven-storey building, estimated to be worth 250 million Br, as collateral. She then transferred 3.2 million Br of the loan into Haileyesus' account, according to the charge. Aiming to make the transaction legal, she prepared a document showing JJ Properties bought the building for 60 million Br. However, Haileyesus did not sign the agreement, reads the charge.

After realising Haileyesus did not sign the agreement, the defendants charged him for allegedly taking 19.8 million Br, according to the prosecutors. They also pressured him to negotiate for the transfer of his entire shares at Cosmo Trading, his ownership of the seven-storey building, an excavator, three vehicles, and construction machinery into their ownership, according to the charge.

Azeb and Temesgen are charged under the second count for allegedly being involved in money laundering. The charge accuses them of taking over the managerial positions at Cosmo Trading and receiving 71 million Br in bank loans as working capital and using 21 million Br of this amount to service Cosmo's debt. The charge also claims that they allegedly transferred 32 million Br in two rounds into JJ Properties' account, a company managed by the duo.