From: Internal Revenue Service
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Five Sentenced in Connection with Cigarette Smuggling Ring Operating in North and South Carolina
On January 22, 2014, in Charlotte, N.C., five of twelve conspirators charged with running a cigarette smuggling ring in North and South Carolina were sentenced on cigarette trafficking and money laundering charges. The smuggling ring was uncovered over the course of a multi-agency investigation into the interstate transport and sales of stolen property and money laundering. Those sentenced include:
- Kamal Zaki Qazah, of Columbia, S.C., was sentenced to 216 months in prison, two years of supervised release and ordered to forfeit property associated with his offenses.
- Tha’er Ismail Ayyad, of Kernersville, N.C., was sentenced to 41 months in prison and two years of supervised release. Ayyad, a Jordanian national, was also convicted of one count of visa fraud and will be deported upon completion of his sentence.
- Ahmed Ibrahim, of Columbia, S.C., was sentenced to 30 months in prison and two years of supervised release.
- Ziad Hashem Najjar, of Greensboro, N.C., was sentenced to 24 months in prison and two years of supervised release.
- Ahmed Samy Hosney Kareem, of Matthews, N.C., was sentenced to 14 months in prison and two years of supervised release.
According to court records, from about August 2009 to November 2011, the co-conspirators engaged in a cigarette smuggling conspiracy that trafficked more than 486,000 cartons of cigarettes across North and South Carolina with an estimated retail value of $20 million. The co-conspirators paid more than $9.3 million in cash for cigarettes they believed to be stolen from Virginia and Tennessee, and profited by selling them to a network of retail businesses and associates willing to purchase the illegally obtained cigarettes at prices far below market value. The co-conspirators laundered their criminal proceeds through businesses owned by Kamal Qazah and Nasser Alquza in Columbia, S.C. Six other defendants involved in the conspiracy have been previously sentenced to terms ranging from one year of probation to 60 months in prison.
