Muslim Store Owners Nedal Ahmad and Riad Faisal Sulaiman Launder $100,000 Every Week at “Empire Street Wear”, Tampa Muslim Mafia Support of Terrorism?
Posted: March 27, 2012 in Tampa Muslim Mafia Tags:
Federal charges have been brought against Riad Sulaiman, Muslim Store Owners Nedal Ahmad and Riad Faisal Sulaiman Launder $100000 Every Week at "Empire Street Wear" Tampa Muslim Mafia Support of Terrorism?
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Was all this money laundering by Tampa Muslim store owners Nedal Ahmad and Riad Faisal Sulaiman, to the tune of $10.4 Million dollars over two years at “Empire Street Wear”, going to the support of terrorism, where is all this cash? There is also a Western Union Money transfer location inside the Empire Street Wear 1926 E. Fletcher Ave Legitimate businesses are a versatile tool for terrorists.
Store Details
1925 E Fletcher Ave
Tampa, Florida 33612
Tampa, Florida 33612
Regular Store Hours
Monday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Tuesday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Store hours may vary due to seasonality.
Tuesday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Wednesday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Thursday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Friday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Saturday: 10:00 AM - 9:00 PM
Sunday: 12:00 PM - 6:00 PM
Store hours may vary due to seasonality.
Legitimate businesses typically used by terrorist groups include construction companies, used car dealers, banks, agricultural commodities growers and brokers, trade businesses, clothing stores, bakeries, restaurants, and bookstores. Money laundering, simply defined, is the process by which “dirty” money (derived from illegal activity) is disguised as “clean” money (legitimate). The difference between money laundering and terrorist financing is that the latter isn’t always from “dirty” sources. Terrorist financing may involve legally-derived funds, or trade based money laundering with used cars purchased in the USA sent to the Middle East for reasale.
January 12th, 2012…Tampa Fl Center of Jihadist Activity Mansour Brothers Auto Trading Laundering Cash for Hezbollah. “This is the second time in recent months that investigators say they have found a link between jihadist activities and Tampa. Last month, prosecutors in New York said Tampa used car dealer (Mansour Brothers Auto Trading) received more than $3 million from people and financial organizations associated with Hezbollah as part of a “massive” international money laundering scheme that funded the Lebanon-based terrorist organization.”
Tampa Fl Center of Jihadist Activity Hosting Terror Websites, Sami Osmakac Bomb Plot and Mansour Brothers Auto Trading Laundering Cash for Hezbollah. Posted: January 12, 2012 in al-qaeda, al-qaeda terror websites hosted in the usa, Alabama Born Al Qaeda Spokesman Omar Hammami, Ansar al-Mujahideen is a forum for terrorists Tags: Sami Osmakac Bomb Plot and Mansour Brothers Auto Trading Laundering Cash for Hezbollah., Tampa Fl Center of Jihadist Activity Hosting Terror Websites, The Al-Qaeda linked terror website Ansar Al-Mujahideen is hosted by Dotster Inc in Vancouver WA US
TAMPA TRIBUNE….Sami Osmakac, the Pinellas Park man accused of plotting terror attacks against targets in Tampa, is apparently well-known to the online jihadist community, which is asking for support and prayers for Sami Osmakac, via the “Ansar Al-Mujahideen website“, and dismayed that fellow Muslims helped turn him over to authorities, see link to terror website http://www.ansar1.info/
By | The Tampa Tribune
Published: January 12, 2012
Updated: January 12, 2012 - 8:56 AM
Sami Osmakac, the Pinellas Park man accused of plotting terror attacks against targets in Tampa, is apparently well-known to the online jihadist community, which is asking for support and prayers for Osmakac and dismayed that fellow Muslims helped turn him over to authorities.
What that means about Osmakac's role as a jihadist is open to interpretation, saw law enforcement and intelligence officials who watch the site.
"Please make dua [supplication] for this brother who has been falsely accused by the kuffar ," a man calling himself Abu Mustafa al-Amriki (Abu Mustafa the American) posted on al-Qaida's English-language website. "He was always helpful and his lectures were very beneficial to me. May ALLAH protect him and hasten his release…Ameen!!!!"
A woman calling herself NiqabNadia expressed concern over the local Muslim community'sassistance in investigating Osmakac, 25. Osmakac was taken into custody after an FBI sting operation in which he tried to buy explosives, at least 10 grenades, Uzis and an AK-47, and was threatening destruction of targets around Tampa Bay, authorities said. The Kosovo native was charged with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction.
"Muslims don't snitch on Muslim brothers and sisters," the woman wrote. "And I hope the "confidential sources" who hired this brother to spy on him and report to the kuffar was not a "Muslim."
The website – known as Ansar al-Mujahideen - has raised national security concerns in the recent past.
In July, a Pennsylvania man was indicted for making threats against U.S. citizens via the Ansar Al-Mujahideen website.
According to the indictment, the Ansar al-Mujahideen forum "is a popular, internationally-known, Islamic extremist web forum used by its members to translate, promote, and distribute jihadist propaganda, as well as a means to communicate with other like-minded extremists."
None of the recent messages regarding Osmakac obtained by the Tribune, all posted after his arrest, make any threats. Nor does Osmakac in two Youtube videos he made – "Muslim Message to The Jews & Christians" and "Paradise or Hell What Are We Living For" _ that were posted on the site by others.
The website is part of al-Qaida's "attempt to continue their PR operations, to demonstrate they are still effective in one way or another," said Michael Balboni, a former Department of Homeland Security official and former New York State deputy secretary for Public Safety who keeps abreast of jihadist threats as managing partner for Bluewater International, a global financial firm.
Balboni, who was in Tampa Wednesday to get security-related briefings for the upcoming 2012 Republican National Convention for his clients, said postings about an individual on a website like Ansar Al-Mujahideen would fall into a law enforcement "link analysis" about an individual.
"Any idiot can post a comment," said Balboni. "They can be insane. They could be drunk."
Still, the fact those on the site seem to know Osmakac, at least through his videos, is "one more indicator, one more factor in terms of assessing" the level of threat posed by Osmakac, he said.
Another factor investigators consider when determining the threat level posed by a suspect is travel, said Balboni.
A senior Kosovo official told the Associated Press that Osmakac met with radical Islamists during visits to his native Kosovo.
Though still in the early phases of the investigation, the arrest of Osmakac is troubling on another level, Balboni said.
This is the second time in recent months that investigators say they have found a link between jihadist activities and Tampa.
Last month, prosecutors in New York said a Tampa used car dealer received more than $3 million from people and financial organizations associated with Hezbollah as part of a "massive" international money laundering scheme that funded the Lebanon-based terrorist organization.
“This is the second time in recent months that investigators say they have found a link between jihadist activities and Tampa. Last month, prosecutors in New York said Tampa used car dealer (Mansour Brothers Auto Trading) received more than $3 million from people and financial organizations associated with Hezbollah as part of a “massive” international money laundering scheme that funded the Lebanon-based terrorist organization.”
Booking information
Pinellas County Sheriff’s OfficeSubject Charge Report;
GHASSAN MANSOUR
DOB 11/11/1963
Offense Description: HOLD ICE COURTESY #A093026596
Statute: 999999-05
Court Case Number: CRCAA97723CFANO
Booking Date 9/17/2011 @ 1:15:15 PM
Ghassan Mansour was also the the Rgistered Agent and the Director/Sec. of the Islamic Education Center of Tampa.
.JPG)
Ghassan Mansour Initial Director of Mansour Brothers Auto Trading Arrested By ICE Agents in Tampa, Used Car Dealer Mansour Brothers Laundered Cash For Hezbollah. Government wants $3 million from Tampa car dealer Mansour Brothers Auto Trading Inc. Mansour Brothers Auto Trading Inc. was one of 30 auto dealers around the nation to be named in the complaint. A Tampa used car dealer received more than $3 million from people and financial organizations associated with Hezbollah as part of a “massive” international money laundering scheme that funded the Lebanon-based terrorist organization, according to a federal civil complaint filed in New York. The complaint, which started with investigations by the Drug Enforcement Agency and other law enforcement entities, states that Mansour Brothers Auto Trading Inc. received at least 11 wire transfers from groups associated with Hezbollah. The complaint, which started with investigations by the Drug Enforcement Agency and other law enforcement entities, states that Mansour Brothers Auto Trading Inc. received at least 11 wire transfers from groups associated with Hezbollah.
March 26th, 2012…..TAMPA — After his business was raided last year by federal agents investigating tax refund fraud, Nedal Ahmad continued to traffic in illegally obtained U.S. Treasury checks, authorities say. “He was either incredibly brazen or not very bright,” said John Joyce, who heads the Tampa office of the U.S. Secret Service, which arrested Ahmad Monday at his Temple Terrace home on a charge of attempting to commit wire fraud by mailing fraudulently obtained Treasury checks in a scheme to defraud the federal government. Joyce said he expects more charges to follow. Joyce said others are also likely to be arrested as part of the larger tax fraud investigation. “This particular arrest is an important part of the puzzle, but there are a lot of other parts to the puzzle that we’re still looking at, still trying to put together,” he said. Ahmad’s arrest comes three months after his brother, Riad Faisal Sulaiman, 38, was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison in a related tax fraud case prosecuted in Fort Lauderdale. The brothers own Empire Street Wear, a clothing store and check-cashing business that authorities say bought fraudulently obtained tax refund checks at a discount from street criminals who used stolen identities to file fake tax returns. Joyce estimated $100,000 worth of fraudulent Treasury checks and preloaded debit cards passed through Empire Street Wear every week for more than a year – beginning in January 2011 and continuing up to Ahmad’s arrest.
By ELAINE SILVESTRINI | The Tampa Tribune Published: March 27, 2012 Updated: March 27, 2012 - 7:17 AM TAMPA:After his business was raided last year by federal agents investigating tax refund fraud, Nedal Ahmad continued to traffic in illegally obtained U.S. Treasury checks, authorities say. "He was either incredibly brazen or not very bright," said John Joyce, who heads the Tampa office of the U.S. Secret Service, which arrested Ahmad Monday at his Temple Terrace home on a charge of attempting to commit wire fraud by mailing fraudulently obtained Treasury checks in a scheme to defraud the federal government. Joyce said he expects more charges to follow. Joyce said others are also likely to be arrested as part of the larger tax fraud investigation. "This particular arrest is an important part of the puzzle, but there are a lot of other parts to the puzzle that we're still looking at, still trying to put together," he said. Ahmad's arrest comes three months after his brother, Riad Faisal Sulaiman, 38, was sentenced to more than five years in federal prison in a related tax fraud case prosecuted in Fort Lauderdale. The brothers own Empire Street Wear, a clothing store and check-cashing business that authorities say bought fraudulently obtained tax refund checks at a discount from street criminals who used stolen identities to file fake tax returns. Joyce estimated $100,000 worth of fraudulent Treasury checks and preloaded debit cards passed through Empire Street Wear every week for more than a year – beginning in January 2011 and continuing up to Ahmad's arrest. Ahmad, 35, used part of the proceeds to purchase counterfeit designer goods to sell at his store, according to a criminal complaint. Some of the money was deposited into 184 bank accounts Ahmad set up in the names of 149 identity theft victims, authorities say. Those accounts were established with the help of an employee at Regions Bank, who was arrested by the Pasco County Sheriff's Office and is facing state charges, authorities say. The name of that person, who is cooperating with investigators, has not been made public. A crooked Ocala Police officer, Dana Brown, also helped facilitate the creation of those bank accounts by giving Ahmad information from a law enforcement database that Ahmad used to obtain drivers' licenses in the names of the identity theft victims, authorities said. Brown has pleaded guilty in Tampa federal court to conspiracy and aggravated identity theft and is awaiting sentencing. Empire Street Wear was one of several business searched by federal and local authorities Sept. 1 as part of "Operation Rainmaker," a task force formed to investigate the explosion in tax refund fraud that has rocked local law enforcement and has led to congressional hearings and proposed legislation. Tampa Police Chief Jane Castor has said the fraud "conservatively" is responsible for the theft of hundreds of millions of dollars from taxpayers in the Tampa area alone. In the fraud – known in street parlance as drops or TurboTax, for the popular online filing program – criminals use stolen Social Security numbers to file tax returns with phony income information and have the "refunds" sent to addresses that they control. When agents searched Empire Street Wear at 1925 E. Fletcher Ave. in September, they recovered nearly $20,000 in cash, more than $58,000 in money orders and nearly $120,000 in fraudulently obtained Treasury checks, according to Ahmad's arrest affidavit. U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Jenkins on Monday set bail for Ahmad at $20,000 but said the defendant will have to establish that any money put up to secure the bail was not obtained through illegal activity. The judge noted that Ahmad is a new U.S. citizen, and she ordered that he surrender both his American and Jordanian passports as a condition of his release. Members of Ahmad's family who were in court for his hearing declined to talk to reporters afterward. esilvestrini@tampatrib.com (813) 259-7837
Ahmad, 35, used part of the proceeds to purchase counterfeit designer goods to sell at his store, according to a criminal complaint. Some of the money was deposited into 184 bank accounts Ahmad set up in the names of 149 identity theft victims, authorities say
Tampa businessman Nedal Ahmad arrested for mail fraud
Tampa Bay Business Journal
Date: Monday, March 26, 2012, 4:48pm EDT - Last Modified: Tuesday, March 27, 2012, 7:08am EDT
Nedal Ahmad was arrested on a federal criminal complaint charging him with mail fraud related to negotiation of fraudulent federal tax refunds.
He is accused of negotiating fraudulent U.S. Department of Treasury refund checks andreloadable debit cards containing fraudulently obtained tax refunds through his store, Empire Street Wear on East Fletcher Avenue, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Robert E. O’Neill.
Federal and local law enforcement agencies served a search warrant at the store in September. Agents recovered nearly $20,000 in cash, $58,306 in money orders and about $120,000 in treasury department checks, the statement said.
After the search, checks issued in various fictitious names were mailed to an associate in New York who worked as a confidential informant for the federal government.
The associate alleged that Ahmad said he could send $100,000 per week in fraudulent refund checks for negotiation, with Ahmad splitting the face value in a 60 to 40 percent arrangement, the statement said.
If convicted, Ahmad faces a maximum prison sentence of 20 years.
Federal charges have been brought against Riad Sulaiman, listed on an FBI affidavit filed in May as owner of Empire Street Wear, which has five stores. Although Sulaiman is also listed in state records as the registered agent for Empire, his attorney says he no longer owns the business, as of June 1. Sulaiman is charged with aggravated identity theft, mail fraud, conspiracy and forging endorsements on U.S. Treasury checks. Raid Faria, owner of Palace Fashions, 2525 E. Hillsborough Ave., is facing 33 state charges each of identity theft and fraudulent use of a credit card.
Tax fraud scheme a boon for some unscrupulous businesses
By | The Tampa Tribune
Published: September 17, 2011
Updated: September 17, 2011 - 10:34 PM
Published: September 17, 2011
Updated: September 17, 2011 - 10:34 PM
Some local businesses are profiting handsomely from an underground economy that has sprung up around a kind of tax fraud that has exploded in recent months, according to police.
Much of the money being stolen from taxpayers through the use of stolen identities and electronic tax filing is being filtered through establishments that cash fraudulently obtained U.S. Treasury checks, often charging high premiums, police say.
"It was basically money laundering," said Tampa police Sgt. Terry Goff, who is overseeing the department's tax fraud investigations.
Goff said when people file fraudulent tax returns, they have trouble cashing the "refund" checks.
"I couldn't go into a bank as Terry Goff and give you a check as John Doe and say, 'I want to cash this check.' So what the businesses would do is they would say, 'Hey, you know, I'll cash that check for ya,' and they literally were taking 80 percent and giving them back 20. That's how much money these people were making. They were willing to give up the 80 percent to get the 20 percent."
Federal and local authorities have searched at least five city businesses as part of their ongoing crackdown on tax fraud; so far, at least two local business owners are being prosecuted.
One business owner whose establishment has not been searched said he's had plenty of opportunities to profit from the fraud, but he refuses to participate.
"I could have made a fortune, but we knew it wasn't right," said Carl Hancock, who owns the Mr. Money pawn shop and check cashing business on Hillsborough Avenue. Hancock estimated he and his employees turned away 1,000 suspicious government checks in a three-month period.
"They wore our carpet out coming in and out of here," Hancock said. "We almost got to a point where we're going to put a sign on our door: 'No Fake Tax Checks.'''
The checks are usually in amounts in the range of $7,000 or $9,000, much higher than the typical refund he sees, and they come into the business every day of the year – not just tax season.
"Who waits to get a refund this time of the year," Hancock asked incredulously. "What blue collar worker gets a $9,500 return?"
People have offered to pay 30 to 50 percent of the face value of the check, Hancock said, even though he typically charges a 2 percent fee.
Federal charges have been brought against Riad Sulaiman, listed on an FBI affidavit filed in May as owner of Empire Street Wear, which has five stores. Although Sulaiman is also listed in state records as the registered agent for Empire, his attorney says he no longer owns the business, as of June 1. Sulaiman is charged with aggravated identity theft, mail fraud, conspiracy and forging endorsements on U.S. Treasury checks.
Raid Faria, owner of Palace Fashions, 2525 E. Hillsborough Ave., is facing 33 state charges each of identity theft and fraudulent use of a credit card.
And Russell B. Simmons Jr., owner of Simmons Auto Sales, 4615 N. 34th St., is facing state charges of grand theft by fraud and criminal use of personal identification. His attorney, Nicholas Matassini Jr., said his client has pleaded not guilty and is "planning a vigorous defense."
Sulaiman has pleaded not guilty in the federal case, which is being handled in Fort Lauderdale. Attorney Myles Malman said he represents Sulaiman in the Fort Lauderdale case, and he represents the stores, which he said are now owned by a company called Faisal's and Son Inc.
Investigators say when they searched the store at 1925 E. Fletcher Ave. on Sept. 1, they recovered more than $120,000 in U.S. Treasury checks. Sulaiman has not been charged in connection with that search.
"He's not charged with anything up there" in Tampa, Malman said
The South Florida federal case involves allegations Sulaiman cashed Treasury checks in May. Those checks, according to court documents, were in the names of deceased and incarcerated people.
The case began when the owner of a Broward County check-cashing store was contacted by Samir Massoud, Sulaiman's codefendant. Massoud told the Broward store owner, an informant, that he had a contact in Tampa, Sulaiman, from whom he was getting a large number of tax refund checks, according to an FBI affidavit.
Massoud, the affidavit states, proposed that the informant cash the checks. Sulaiman, Massoud and the informant met and Sulaiman agreed to give the informant a fee of 15 percent of the face value of the checks, while Massoud was to get 8 percent and Sulaiman would get the remainder of the proceeds, the affidavit states.
Massoud and Sulaiman, over the next few days, gave the informant more than $200,000 in fraudulent Treasury checks, according to the complaint.
Faria is accused of using a TurboTax prepaid debit card in the name of a homeless man.
According to a Tampa Police investigation report, police were alerted by the manager of a Sweetbay Supermarket where Faria was trying to use the debit card. Faria told police he knew that "what he was doing was wrong, but everyone is doing it," the report states.
Faria told detectives that people purchase suits in his store and give him the cards for more than the amount of the purchase, allowing him to keep the rest. He said he got $300 for each $1,000 on the cards, according to the report.
Approached by The Tampa Tribune and News Channel 8 in his store this week, Faria said the charges against him aren't true. "I didn't cash nothing," he said. "I have nothing to do with that. I think I was just put into the crowd."
Faria also said the charges against him are a "hate crime" brought because of his Arab heritage. "I heard them say something about terrorists and all that crazy stuff," he said, referring to law enforcement who searched his business. "They saw some writing in Arabic."
Hancock, the owner of Mr. Money, said he is incensed about the ongoing theft of taxpayer dollars and said the banks that take the checks from local businesses bear some responsibility for allowing this to continue.
But police say some banks have caught on and are trying to help.
Goff said one local bank official recently called and told investigators, "Every day, we see the same people coming in and putting money orders in their account and the next day taking that money out. We know this is money-laundering.''
Russell Bruce Simmons JR …mugshots.com Charge
1 STATUTE: THEF2001 CHARGE: GRAND THEFT THIRD DEGREE ($300 – $5,000) NOTES: WNIC/GRAND THEFT BY FRAUD BOND: 3333 Charge
2 STATUTE: FRAU1171 CHARGE: FRAUDULENT USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION NOTES: WNIC BOND: 3333 Charge
3 STATUTE: FRAU1171 CHARGE: FRAUDULENT USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION NOTES: WNIC BOND: 3333 Charge
4 STATUTE: FRAU1171 CHARGE: FRAUDULENT USE OF PERSONAL INFORMATION NOTE: WNIC BOND: 3333
And Russell B. Simmons Jr., owner of Simmons Auto Sales, 4615 N. 34th St., is facing state charges of grand theft by fraud and criminal use of personal identification. His attorney, Nicholas Matassini Jr., said his client has pleaded not guilty and is “planning a vigorous defense.” Sulaiman has pleaded not guilty in the federal case, which is being handled in Fort Lauderdale. Attorney Myles Malman said he represents Sulaiman in the Fort Lauderdale case, and he represents the stores, which he said are now owned by a company called Faisal’s and Son Inc. Investigators say when they searched the store at 1925 E. Fletcher Ave. on Sept. 1, they recovered more than $120,000 in U.S. Treasury checks. Sulaiman has not been charged in connection with that search. The South Florida federal case involves allegations Sulaiman cashed Treasury checks in May. Those checks, according to court documents, were in the names of deceased and incarcerated people.
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