PINOLE
MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO OPERATING AN ILLEGAL MONEY TRANSMITTING BUSINESS
TO TRANSMIT MONEY TO SYRIA
Defendant admits to sending over 4.8 million dollars to Syria through
intermediary countries including Lebanon, the United Arab Emirates, and
China.
SAN FRANCISCO - United
States Attorney Joseph P. Russoniello announced that Hesham Badawi pleaded
guilty today to operating an illegal money transmitting business. Mr.
Badawi admitted that he illegally sent close to five million dollars to
Syria through his business. This guilty plea is the result of an investigation
by the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Homeland
Security, Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
Mr. Badawi, age forty-four
of Pinole, California was charged with one count of conducting an unlicensed
money transmitting business in violation of 18 U.S.C. § 1960. He
pleaded guilty as charged.
In pleading guilty,
Mr. Badawi admitted that from January 22, 2001 to August 9, 2006, in San
Francisco, he routinely transmitted money by wire to recipients outside
the United States. To run his business, Mr. Badawi maintained funds at
five local banks and wired the money overseas from those accounts. He
used those bank accounts to transmit over 4.8 million dollars abroad to
over fifty beneficiaries in twenty-two countries for final payment to
individuals in Syria. The business was a sophisticated operation with
money being wired through foreign intermediaries in Lebanon, the United
Arab Emirates, China, France, Switzerland, Germany, and South Korea.
As detailed in his
plea agreement, Mr. Badawi ran this money transmitting service as a for
profit business. The service was open and available to the public to wire
transfer money outside the United States to recipients in Syria. Mr. Badawi
had neither sought nor received a license from the State of California
to engage in a business of receiving money for the purpose of transmitting
funds to foreign countries.
Mr. Badawi is scheduled
to be sentenced on April 17, 2008 before the Honorable Vaughn R. Walker,
Chief Judge, United States District Court. The maximum statutory penalty
for a violation of 18 U.S.C. 1960 is five years imprisonment and a fine
of $250,000. However, any sentence following conviction would be imposed
by the court after consideration of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and
the federal statute governing the imposition of a sentence, 18 U.S.C.
§ 3553.
Blake D. Stamm is
the Assistant United States Attorney who is prosecuting the case with
the assistance of Miche Sharpe.
Further Information:
Case #: 07 0804 VRW
A copy of this press
release may be found on the U.S. Attorney's Office's website at www.usdoj.gov/usao/can.
Electronic court
filings and further procedural and docket information are available at
https://ecf.cand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
Judges' calendars
with schedules for upcoming court hearings can be viewed on the court's
website at www.cand.uscourts.gov.
All press inquiries
to the U.S. Attorney's Office should be directed to Joshua Eaton at (415)
436-6958 or by email at Josh.Eaton@usdoj.gov.
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