DETROIT, March 29 /PRNewswire/ -- A Federal Grand Jury in Detroit charged
nineteen individuals with operating a global racketeering conspiracy in an
indictment unsealed today, announced United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy.
The indictment alleges that portions of the profits made from the illegal
enterprise were given to Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization. Nine of
the individuals were arrested this morning.
U.S. Attorney Murphy was joined in the announcement by Daniel D. Roberts,
Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit FBI; Valerie J. Goddard, Special Agent
in Charge, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF); Brian M.
Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement,
Maurice Aouate, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the
Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation; and Michael Cleary, Special
Agent in Charge, FDA Office of Criminal Investigation.
The indictment charges that between 1996 and 2004, a group of individuals
worked together in a criminal enterprise to traffic in contraband cigarettes,
counterfeit Zig Zag rolling papers and counterfeit Viagra, to produce
counterfeit cigarette tax stamps, to transport stolen property, and to launder
money. The enterprise operated from Lebanon, Canada, China, Brazil, Paraguay
and the United States. The indictment, returned by a federal grand jury on
April 14, 2004, was sealed pursuant to a court order until today.
Arrested this morning by members of the Detroit Joint Terrorism Task Force
("JTTF") were: Karim Hassan Nasser, 37, of Windsor, Ontario; Fadi Mohamad-
Musbah Hammoud, 33, of Dearborn; Majid Mohamad Hammoud, 39, of Dearborn
Heights; Jihad Hammoud, 47, of Dearborn; Youssef Aoun Bakri, 36, of Dearborn
Heights; Ali Najib Berjaoui, 39, of Dearborn; Mohammed Fawzi Zeidan, 41, of
Canton; Imad Majed Hamadeh, 51, of Dearborn Heights; Adel Isak, 37, of
Sterling Heights.
Also named in the Indictment, but not arrested today because they
currently reside outside of the United States were: Imad Mohamad-Musbah
Hammoud, 37 of Lebanon, formerly of Dearborn; Hassan Ali Al-Mosawi, 49, of
Lebanon; Hassan Hassan Nasser, 36, of Windsor, Ontario; Ali Ahmad Hammoud,
64, of Lebanon; Karim Hassan Abbas, 37, formerly of Dearborn; Hassan Mohamad
Srour, 30, of Montreal, Quebec; Naji Hassan Alawie, 44, of Windsor, Ontario;
and Abdel-Hamid Sinno, 52, of Montreal, Quebec.
Theodore Schenk, 73, of Miami Beach, Florida was not arrested today but
will be voluntarily surrendering himself for arraignment on April 10, 2006.
The indictment alleges that Imad Hammoud, along with his partner, Hassan
Makki, ran a multi-million dollar a year contraband cigarette trafficking
organization headquartered in the Dearborn, Michigan, area between 1996 and
2002. Makki pleaded guilty in 2003 in federal district court in Detroit to
racketeering and providing material support to Hizballah. Some of the
cigarettes were supplied to the organization by Mohamad Hammoud, who was
convicted in 2002 in federal district court in Charlotte, North Carolina, of,
among other crimes, racketeering and providing material support to Hizballah.
Makki and Mohamad Hammoud, who were not charged in the indictment unsealed
today, were identified as unindicted co-conspirators. They both are currently
serving prison sentences relating to their activities in this matter.
The indictment charges that the group would obtain low-taxed or untaxed
cigarettes in North Carolina and the Cattaraugus Indian Reservation in New
York and bring them into Michigan and the State of New York for the purpose of
evading tens of millions in state cigarette taxes. The enterprise obtained
large profits by reselling the cigarettes at market prices in Michigan and New
York. The enterprise sometimes used counterfeit tax stamps to make it appear
that the state taxes had been paid.
The indictment charges that portions of the profits made from the illegal
enterprise were given to Hizballah. Some members of the enterprise charged a
"Resistance Tax," being a set amount over black market price per carton of
contraband cigarettes, which their customers were told would be going to
Hizballah. Some members of the enterprise also solicited money from cigarette
customers for the orphans of martyrs program run by Hizballah in Southern
Lebanon to support the families of persons killed in Hizballah suicide and
other terrorist operations.
The U.S. Secretary of State has designated Hizballah a foreign terrorist
organization. An entity may be designated as a foreign terrorist organization
if the Secretary of States finds that: (1) the organization is a foreign
organization; (2) the organization engages in terrorist activity; and (3) the
terrorist activity of the organization threatens the security of United States
nationals or the national security of the United States.
"Fighting terrorism and keeping our citizens safe from its reach are the
number one priorities of this Office. The law enforcement agencies involved
in the case unsealed today must be applauded for their collective effort to
bring together an investigation with this sort of global reach," U.S. Attorney
Murphy said. "Together, we will use all of the legal tools available to us to
disrupt criminal activity that funds terrorist organizations."
Daniel D. Roberts, Special Agent in Charge, Federal Bureau of
Investigation (FBI), Detroit Michigan advised "The FBI's Joint Terrorism Task
Force (JTTF) will continue to aggressively identify, investigate and dismantle
these criminal enterprises operating in the United States, as well as the rest
of the world when their profits are used to support a foreign terrorist
organization such as Hizballah."
"Investigating contraband cigarette trafficking has been, is, and will
continue to be a top priority for ATF, particularly when there is nexus to a
known terrorist organization such as Hizballah," stated Special Agent in
Charge Valerie J. Goddard, ATF Detroit.
According to Brian M. Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge of the
Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Office of Investigations in Detroit, "ICE
will continue to work with other law enforcement agencies to dismantle
criminal organizations. Racketeering is a serious crime and ICE will continue
to investigate those who exploit our borders to facilitate their criminal
enterprise."
The FDA Office of Criminal Investigation under the direction of Special
Agent in Charge Michael E. Cleary, Chicago Field office remains committed to
working with their partners in law enforcement to protect the public's health
and safety.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant
is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to
prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
In announcing the indictment, United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy
commended the work of the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and
Explosives, Special Agents of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs
Enforcement, the Internal Revenue Service, the Food and Drug Administration,
Michigan State Police and the Dearborn Police Department. The case is
assigned to Assistant U.S. Attorneys Kenneth Chadwell and Barbara McQuade.
CONTACT:
Susan Plochinski - USAO - (313) 226-9193
SOURCE United States Attorney's Office, Eastern District of
Michigan; Bureau
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Related links:
http://www.atf.gov
CONTACT:
Susan Plochinski, PIO of United States
Attorney's Office, +1-313-226-9193
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