I mean WTF??? 
. How they got as far as they did is mind blowing......
www.cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Two Cleveland brothers posed as members of the United Arab Emirates royal family while conning investors out of millions of dollars in a variety of schemes, according to federal prosecutors.
Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq Al Zubair and Muzzammil Muhammad Al Zubair even touted what became a $9 million cryptocurrency scheme that used Nela Park as the backdrop during a 2021 meeting with East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King and his staff.
The men also trashed a Bratenahl mansion, the site of an FBI raid last year, and stowed away a fugitive suspected of drug dealing, prosecutors said.
They were indicted Thursday in federal court in Cleveland with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering and theft of government funds. Zubair Al Zubair was additionally charged with harboring a fugitive. Both pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in front of U.S. District Magistrate Judge James Grimes.
Grimes ordered them released from custody on $20,000 unsecured bonds.
Muzzammil Al Zubair’s attorney, Marisa Darden, declined to comment. David Johnson, an assistant federal public defender, said he only represented Zubair Al Zubair during the arraignment.
Prosecutors said the men lied about nearly every aspect of their businesses, telling people they were wealthy, sophisticated investors who had widespread connections to politicians and foreign governments.
Zubair Al Zubair, 41, of Cleveland, told people he married a UAE princess and often signed his correspondences with “His Excellency,” the indictment said.
That helped lure investors, including a former cryptocurrency miner from China who was looking for work elsewhere after the country banned the practice.
Zubair Al Zubair also struck close and romantic relationships with his victims that became so controlling that the women wouldn’t question his decisions, according to prosecutors.
Muzzammil Al Zubair, 30, of Pepper Pike, told people he was an experienced hedge-fund manager. He wasn’t registered with any regulating agencies and his only education on the financial issues came from watching YouTube videos, according to prosecutors.
Together, prosecutors said, they ripped off investors and used the money on luxury cars, private jets, some three dozen expensive watches, including some Rolexes, and an arsenal of more than 80 guns authorities later seized.
They spent $4,000 for a high-end hotel room in Cleveland, $83,000 for a suite at a Browns game and $15,000 for surveillance equipment at their rented home, according to court papers.
Authorities said from 2020 through the August raid, both men carried out at least six schemes.
Zubair Al Zubair scammed a romantic partner from UAE who invested in his company, Dubai Bridge Investments, LLC., prosecutors said. She sent him about $860,000 for the business.
Instead, he pocketed the cash and lost the rest on poor investments, prosecutors said. He sent her back a small amount, saying it was what she made on their investments, according to the indictment.
Zubair Al Zubair also falsely claimed to be in the restaurant business to obtain a Small Business Administration loan given out to help struggling businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors said. He and his brother took the $27,400 and spent it on airline tickets, a hotel and the Cleveland Aquarium, according to the indictment. They pocketed $6,000 cash.
From July 2021 to May 2022, the brothers scammed the former Chinese cryptocurrency miner, who became romantically involved with Zubair Al Zubair, according to prosecutors. They told the woman they owned Nela Park, the massive former General Electric plant in East Cleveland, and could get cheap electric rates.
Zubair Al Zubair and the Chinese investor inked the contract in the mayor’s office at East Cleveland City Hall, according to the indictment. Two weeks later, the Chinese investor paid the brothers $3 million.
The brothers later stole more than 1,000 miners belonging to the Chinese businessperson and sold them to a Canadian company for $6 million.
The indictment alleges the brothers then used their inflated bank accounts and falsified documents to lease a building in February 2022 in Cleveland under the guise of opening a high-end restaurant.
Zubair Al Zubair used the faked paperwork to rent the Brantenahl mansion on East Hannah Lane in a gated community off Lakeshore Boulevard owned by the Cleveland Clinic’s chief of hepatology, Dr. Nizar Zein.
He paid for the first year of rent up front, then stopped paying in March 2023, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said he caused a significant amount of damage to the home.
The brothers also hid from authorities Kelvin Bedell, who was charged in federal court in February with drug trafficking and conspiring to launder money. Bedell was featured in June as the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive of the Week.
Bedell has not been arrested, and details of his charges remain under seal.
FBI agents on Aug. 8 raided the mansion, using flashbang grenades. Investigators found 83 guns inside the home and 39 expensive watches, including Richard Milles, Rolexes, Patek Phillipes. They also seized from the a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S 580 and a 2021 Indian Scout Bobber Sixty motorcycle.
. How they got as far as they did is mind blowing......
Cleveland brothers posed as members of United Arab Emirates royalty, ran a crypto scam and trashed a Bratenahl mansion, feds say
Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq Al Zubair is accused of posing as part of the royal family in the United Arab Emirates to lure investors that he bilked out of millions of dollars, along with his brother Muzzammil Muhammad Al Zubair. Both also trashed a Bratenahl mansion that FBI agents raided last year.
www.cleveland.com
CLEVELAND, Ohio — Two Cleveland brothers posed as members of the United Arab Emirates royal family while conning investors out of millions of dollars in a variety of schemes, according to federal prosecutors.
Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq Al Zubair and Muzzammil Muhammad Al Zubair even touted what became a $9 million cryptocurrency scheme that used Nela Park as the backdrop during a 2021 meeting with East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King and his staff.
The men also trashed a Bratenahl mansion, the site of an FBI raid last year, and stowed away a fugitive suspected of drug dealing, prosecutors said.
They were indicted Thursday in federal court in Cleveland with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and money laundering and theft of government funds. Zubair Al Zubair was additionally charged with harboring a fugitive. Both pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in front of U.S. District Magistrate Judge James Grimes.
Grimes ordered them released from custody on $20,000 unsecured bonds.
Muzzammil Al Zubair’s attorney, Marisa Darden, declined to comment. David Johnson, an assistant federal public defender, said he only represented Zubair Al Zubair during the arraignment.
Prosecutors said the men lied about nearly every aspect of their businesses, telling people they were wealthy, sophisticated investors who had widespread connections to politicians and foreign governments.
Zubair Al Zubair, 41, of Cleveland, told people he married a UAE princess and often signed his correspondences with “His Excellency,” the indictment said.
That helped lure investors, including a former cryptocurrency miner from China who was looking for work elsewhere after the country banned the practice.
Zubair Al Zubair also struck close and romantic relationships with his victims that became so controlling that the women wouldn’t question his decisions, according to prosecutors.
Muzzammil Al Zubair, 30, of Pepper Pike, told people he was an experienced hedge-fund manager. He wasn’t registered with any regulating agencies and his only education on the financial issues came from watching YouTube videos, according to prosecutors.
Together, prosecutors said, they ripped off investors and used the money on luxury cars, private jets, some three dozen expensive watches, including some Rolexes, and an arsenal of more than 80 guns authorities later seized.
They spent $4,000 for a high-end hotel room in Cleveland, $83,000 for a suite at a Browns game and $15,000 for surveillance equipment at their rented home, according to court papers.
Authorities said from 2020 through the August raid, both men carried out at least six schemes.
Zubair Al Zubair scammed a romantic partner from UAE who invested in his company, Dubai Bridge Investments, LLC., prosecutors said. She sent him about $860,000 for the business.
Instead, he pocketed the cash and lost the rest on poor investments, prosecutors said. He sent her back a small amount, saying it was what she made on their investments, according to the indictment.
Zubair Al Zubair also falsely claimed to be in the restaurant business to obtain a Small Business Administration loan given out to help struggling businesses during the coronavirus pandemic, prosecutors said. He and his brother took the $27,400 and spent it on airline tickets, a hotel and the Cleveland Aquarium, according to the indictment. They pocketed $6,000 cash.
From July 2021 to May 2022, the brothers scammed the former Chinese cryptocurrency miner, who became romantically involved with Zubair Al Zubair, according to prosecutors. They told the woman they owned Nela Park, the massive former General Electric plant in East Cleveland, and could get cheap electric rates.
Zubair Al Zubair and the Chinese investor inked the contract in the mayor’s office at East Cleveland City Hall, according to the indictment. Two weeks later, the Chinese investor paid the brothers $3 million.
The brothers later stole more than 1,000 miners belonging to the Chinese businessperson and sold them to a Canadian company for $6 million.
The indictment alleges the brothers then used their inflated bank accounts and falsified documents to lease a building in February 2022 in Cleveland under the guise of opening a high-end restaurant.
Zubair Al Zubair used the faked paperwork to rent the Brantenahl mansion on East Hannah Lane in a gated community off Lakeshore Boulevard owned by the Cleveland Clinic’s chief of hepatology, Dr. Nizar Zein.
He paid for the first year of rent up front, then stopped paying in March 2023, prosecutors said. Prosecutors said he caused a significant amount of damage to the home.
The brothers also hid from authorities Kelvin Bedell, who was charged in federal court in February with drug trafficking and conspiring to launder money. Bedell was featured in June as the U.S. Marshals Service Fugitive of the Week.
Bedell has not been arrested, and details of his charges remain under seal.
FBI agents on Aug. 8 raided the mansion, using flashbang grenades. Investigators found 83 guns inside the home and 39 expensive watches, including Richard Milles, Rolexes, Patek Phillipes. They also seized from the a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S 580 and a 2021 Indian Scout Bobber Sixty motorcycle.
