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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Monday - May 19, 2003

RALEIGH - United States Attorney Frank D. Whitney announced that ABDUL HAFEEZ MUHAMMAD was convicted in federal court on wire fraud and money laundering charges on Friday, May 16, 2003, following a four-day jury trial in Raleigh, N. C.

MUHAMMAD, 59, formerly of 2522 Alpine Road, Durham, N. C., was convicted on seven counts of wire fraud and one count of money laundering. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years imprisonment, a $1,000,000.00 fine, and five years of supervised release for each count of wire fraud. On the money laundering count, he could receive a maximum sentence of 20 years imprisonment, a fine of $500,000.00, and a supervised release term of three years. Senior U. S. District Judge W. Earl Britt has scheduled MUHAMMAD'ssentencing for July 28, 2003, in Raleigh.

According to the indictment, MUHAMMAD, a native of Guyana, South America, and a permanent alien resident of the United States, was the sole shareholder and president of two corporations, Abdul H. Muhammad & Associates, Inc. (AHMA) and Granville Gold Switzerland Corporation (GGSC), both of which operated from an office at 5510 Munford Road, Raleigh, N. C. MUHAMMAD represented to customers that he was the trustee of a Swiss trust worth hundreds of trillions of dollars, and that he had claims against Swiss and U. S. banks.

Evidence presented during the trial showed that ABDUL HAFEEZ MUHAMMAD sold a product called "asset amount inclusion," which he promised would enable his customers to obtain commercial loans. He also sold his consulting services if the customer was unable to find a lender. However, when the bank attempted to verify the assets, the defendant was unable to substantiate his claims of enormous wealth, and the loan was denied. Evidence further showed that the defendant engaged in money laundering by using customers' money to further promote his fraudulent business.

Investigation of the case was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation. Assistant U. S. Attorneys James A. Candelmo and Richard E. Myers prosecuted the case for the government.

News releases are available on the U. S. Attorney's web page at www.usdoj.gov/usao/nce within 48 hours of release.