Midamar Corporation and Islamic Services of America, of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and corporate officers of the businesses, Jalel Aossey, age 40, and William “Yahya" Aossey, age 44, also of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, have been charged in a ninety-two count indictment filed this afternoon in United States District Court in Cedar Rapids. The indictment charges each business and person with one count of conspiracy to: make and use materially false statements and documents; sell misbranded meat; and commit wire fraud. The indictment also charges each defendant with three counts of making false statements on export applications; forty-three counts of wire fraud; forty-four counts of money laundering; and one count of conspiring to commit money laundering. The indictment also contains two forfeiture allegations, seeking proceeds and property involved in certain offenses.
The conspiracy charge is punishable by up to five years imprisonment. Each count of making a false statement on an export application is punishable by up to three years imprisonment. Each count of wire fraud is punishable by up to twenty years imprisonment. Each count of money laundering, including the money laundering conspiracy count, is punishable by up to twenty years imprisonment. A fine of up to $250,000 may also be imposed on each count, along with a term of supervised release following any imprisonment.
As with any criminal case, a charge is merely an accusation and a defendant is presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Richard L. Murphy and was investigated by the Department of Agriculture Office of Inspector General, and the Internal Revenue Service.
Court file information is available at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl. The case file number is 14-CR-00138-LRR.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
