Most of the defendants belong to four groups of brothers identified by their names: Othman, Mohamed, Yassin and Mahmoud.
They own tobacco stores in the Twin Cities and concealed the revenue and expenses of those stores or the identities of the people deriving economic benefit from their operation, according to the indictment.
At least two of the defendants already have pleaded guilty to federal charges in connection with cigarette sales.
Zuhair Wazwaz, also known as Anthony Stallone, pleaded guilty in 2004 to mail and wire fraud. Adel Salem pleaded guilty that same year to mail fraud. They pleaded guilty to ordering nearly $1 million in cigarettes with no intention of paying for them.
The other defendants are Houd Othman Wazwaz, Fares Othman Wazwaz, Taleb Mohamed Wazwaz, Kennedy Mohamed Wazwaz, Sabry Mohamed Wazwaz and Ziad Mahmoud Wazwaz.
Othman Majed Wazwaz and Kamil Madfoun Al-Esawi are charged only with conspiracy.
(Upon reading the name Wazwaz, I'm sure more than a few Viking fans relived the painful repressed memory of that sickening January afternoon in New Jersey and a defensive back who couldn't cover Rasputia.)
Scott found it interesting, but not surprising, that the reporters didn't look deeper into where the money may have been going and what it might have been used for:
When I had a glimpse into the case, it was part of a joint investigation that included the ATF, the IRS, and the FBI. Why might it attract the attention of three federal law enforcement agencies? The need to dig beneath the surface of apparently routine tax evasion charges is suggested by the reporters' description of the indictment:
The 58-page indictment alleges that the dozens of transactions date from 1996 through the present and details numerous transactions involving thousands of dollars.
The defendants also are accused of transferring nearly $1 million to Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories through checks, currency and wire transfers backed by the tobacco store proceeds.
An unindicted co-conspirator was caught at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport in March 2003 with six cashier's checks worth $108,030 destined for Lebanon, the indictment said.
The reporters don't suggest that the money might have been put to nefarious uses in Jordan, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, but I suspect the authorities have reason to believe that it has.
A bunch of guys with Arabic names committing fraud in the U.S. and sending the proceeds to places like Lebanon and the Palestinian territories? No, nothing suspicious about that. Move along, nothing to see here.
The story caught my attention because a good friend had an encounter with the Wazwaz gang a few years back. Without getting into too much detail, let's just say that he's the proprietor of a business that Atomizer is wont to frequent (no, it's not "T-squares 'R Us"). He had some property that the Wazwazs were leasing and interested in buying for one of their cigarette stores.
Once they started negotiating, my friend quickly realized that something funky was afoot with the financing. Something about a bank that wasn't really a bank, but more of a front company with dubious ownership and overseas connections that were highly suspicious (at least to my friend and his lawyer if not to Star Tribune reporters). Long story short, he backed out of the deal like Lileks backing out of his garage (put the pedal to metal and don't look back) and, at his lawyer's insistence, reported the matter to the FBI.
After learning about my friend's experience, I did a little research to see if anything had ever been reported in the local media on the unusual goings on with the owners of the tobacco stores. Surprise, surprise, there was nothing.
Now that the case has apparently been cracked wide open, the Star Tribune has dutifully covered the story with the level of intellectual curiosity that they typically bring to such matters. They've done their due diligence and can now turn the page and move on to more pressing matters. like where are we going to put all this snow? (answer: the same place we've put it EVERY OTHER FRICKIN' YEAR!).
Of late, there have been some very interesting stories (the Wazwaz brothers and the flying imams come immediately to mind) cropping up in this town. It's a shame that we don't have any reporters with the inclination to give them the coverage they deserve.
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