OCEAN CITY — One of two Ocean City residents indicted by a New York grand jury in May for allegedly leading a vast multi-million dollar cigarette smuggling and money laundering operation was indicted again on Thursday in New York for a foiled murder-for-hire plot.
In mid-May, federal officials concluded an investigation into a multi-million dollar cigarette smuggling operation with raids on two locations in and around the resort area including the West Ocean City homes of local residents and business owners Basel Ramadan, 42, who has been called the “ringleader” of the operation, and Samer Ramadan, 40, who is being called the operation’s “enterprise treasurer.” Also indicted were 14 other alleged co-conspirators, from transporters to distributors to resellers, who were rounded up at locations all over the mid-Atlantic region on the same day in May.
On Thursday, New York Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman and NYPD Commissioner Raymond W. Kelly announced the indictment of Basel Ramadan and Yousseff Odeh, one of his alleged distributors and a trusted lieutenant, on new charges they conspired from behind bars to murder witnesses they believed were cooperating with law enforcement in the massive cigarette smuggling case against them.
The new indictment, which was unsealed early Thursday morning in Brooklyn Supreme Court on a day Basel Ramadan was already scheduled to appear for a hearing, charges Ramadan and Odeh with conspiracy in the second-degree and criminal solicitation in the second-degree. Each now faces up to 25 years in prison on the new charges for conspiring to kill witnesses, in addition to the time they face for their roles in the cigarette smuggling operation.
With the cooperation of confidential sources, law enforcement personnel learned early in August Basel Ramadan and Odeh wanted to kill two individuals living in New York who they believed were cooperating with officials. Additional evidence of the murder plots, hatched from inside Rikers Island jail, was gathered by law enforcement officials who monitor calls made by inmates. In this case, the calls were placed by Basel Ramadan. One of the calls was to an undercover police officer whom Ramadan believed was a contract killer.
“These defendants sought to kill individuals they believed to be witnesses to their crimes,” said Schneiderman on Thursday. “This behavior is intolerable and we are going to prosecute them to the full extent of the law.”
Kelly said on Thursday the latest indictments of Ramadan and Odeh in the alleged murder-for-hire plot for the witnesses shows the extent the conspiracy could extend beyond the cigarette smuggling operation.
“This indictment shows the scope of intent of these two individuals was not limited to generating profits through illegal cigarettes,” he said. “It now includes a murder plot. Fortunately, it was an NYPD detective and not an accomplice of these inmates on the other end of the phone. I commend the NYPD Intelligence Division and their partners in the Attorney General’s Office for their work.”
In May, federal officials concluded an investigation into the vast cigarette smuggling operation with raids on the West Ocean City homes of Basel and Samer Ramadan. Federal officials also raided the Ramadan’s offices over the Subway restaurant they owned at Sunset Drive near 26th Street in Ocean City on the same day. At the Ramadan’s West Ocean City homes in the Oyster Harbor community, $1.4 million in large black bags were recovered, along with 20,000 cartons of untaxed cigarettes.
Also seized were numerous vehicles and other property belonging to the Ramadans. The Ramadans allegedly conducted the vast cigarette smuggling operation out of their Ocean City properties, but 14 other alleged co-conspirators, from transporters to distributors to resellers were also rounded up at locations all over the mid-Atlantic region.
According to the New York Attorney General’s Office, the Ramadans and their co-conspirators allegedly funneled thousands of cartons of untaxed smokes and millions of dollars in ill-gotten revenue through Ocean City and Worcester County from a wholesaler in Virginia to a distribution warehouse in Delaware. From there, the illegal, untaxed cigarettes were distributed to retail outlets all over New York City and upstate New York with significant mark-ups.
On May 13, a New York grand jury handed down formal indictments against the Ramadans and their alleged 14 co-conspirators. The 300-plus page grand jury indictment includes 244 total counts and another 243 “pattern acts,” which attempt to establish the pattern of the operation over several years.
Also included in the indictment are numerous “overt acts,” which include recorded phone conversations and movements of the alleged co-conspirators. According to the indictment, the Ramadans were successful for a long time in disguising the illicit proceeds and funneling through local banking institutions and allowed them to continue to finance the purchase of thousands of cartons of cigarettes from Virginia wholesaler Cooper Booth Inc.
According to the New York Attorney General’s Office, the Ramadan brothers furthered the criminal enterprise by depositing over $55 million from their untaxed cigarettes into small financial institutions in and around Ocean City. They then used that money to purchase additional cigarettes for illegal sale, continuing and expanding the operation.
In the release issued yesterday, the New York Attorney General’s Office estimated the cigarette smuggling operation laundered more than $55 million in illegal proceeds and dodged over $80 million in New York taxes. Schneiderman said on Thursday the latest alleged murder-for-hire plot carried out by Basel Ramadan and Odeh compounded the already serious case against them.
“These two individuals cheated New York taxpayers out of millions of dollars in tax revenue and then tried to cover up their dangerous and lucrative smuggling operations, which hurt New York businesses, but committing the ultimate crime,” he said.
Following the original indictments in May, there were not-so-subtle references to a possible link between the co-conspirators and known terrorist groups, fueling speculation many of the millions of dollar generated by the smuggling enterprise could have ended up in the hands of terrorists. No firm link has been established, although the investigation is ongoing. At a press conference in May following the raids in Ocean City and elsewhere, Kelly referenced the possible connection.
“The association of some of the suspects in this case to the Ari Halbestram’s killer, the Blind Sheik and a top Hamas official concerns us,” said Kelly. “While it hasn’t been established yet where the illicit proceeds ended up, we’re concerned because similar schemes have been used in the past to help fund terrorist organizations like Hamas and Hezbollah.”
Basel Ramadan has been held at Rikers Island without bond since being arraigned on the initial indictment in May, while Samer Ramadan has been held on a $15 million bond. Odeh and many of the alleged co-conspirators have also been held at Rikers Island in lieu of $500,000 bonds. The Ramadans and their 14 alleged co-conspirators each face from eight to 25 years for the original indictment. Basel Ramadan and Odeh now face an additional 25 years for the alleged murder-for-hire plot.