The Bobster
Senior News Editor since 2004
http://nypost.com/2015/03/03/man-busted-at-jfk-with-770k-in-hidden-cash/
Man busted at JFK with $770K in hidden cash
By Josh Saul
March 3, 2015 | 8:18pm
Abdulkarim Altareb was busted at JFK Airport with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash tucked away in boxes of Alka-Seltzer, Thera-flu and Band-Aids inside his checked luggage.
Photo: U. S. Customs & Border Protection
Plop plop, fizz fizz, Oh what a…heckuva lot of cash that is.
A man trying to fly to the Middle East out of JFK Airport was busted with more than $770,000 in cash hidden in boxes of Alka-Seltzer, Thera-flu, Dove soap and Band-Aids inside his checked luggage, federal authorities announced Tuesday.
Abdulkarim Altareb, 48, was trying to board a plane to Qatar on March 1 when US Customs and Border Protection officers asked him to declare the cash he was carrying.
Altareb lied on a Customs form that he had $6,500 – under the $10,000 limit – but then pulled out just $5,870, court papers state.
When the suspicious agents searched his checked luggage they discovered thick rolls of crisp $100 and $50 bills jammed into a variety of drug store finds — and a pair of black Adidas high-top sneakers.
“Examination of two pieces of luggage checked by the defendant revealed more than $770,000 in additional United States currency, concealed in various places, including boxes of the following: hand soaps; Band-aids; Thera-flu; Splenda and Alka-Seltzer.
“Cash was also hidden in soles of shoes, and in the lining of a jacket inside of one of the checked bags,” reads a criminal complaint, filed in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday.
There were even wads of Franklins and Grants hidden in dozens of packets of Sazon Goya Latin seasonings.
When Homeland Security officers showed up to question the Yemen-born Altareb, he said, “We are trying to build a building in Yemen. This is my brothers’, two brothers’ money,” the complaint reads.
“The defendant also said, in sum and substance, that some of the money was his money, and some of the money belonged to his family, and that he has a big family.”
A law-enforcement source said there was no indication that the money was meant for terrorist or violent groups.
Altareb was charged with “bulk cash smuggling” and held without bail at his Brooklyn federal court arraignment, but he will appear in court Wednesday so his lawyer can propose a bail package, according to a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors.
The public defender who represented Altareb at his arraignment declined to comment and the smuggler’s retained counsel didn’t return a call for comment.
Man busted at JFK with $770K in hidden cash
By Josh Saul
March 3, 2015 | 8:18pm
Abdulkarim Altareb was busted at JFK Airport with hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash tucked away in boxes of Alka-Seltzer, Thera-flu and Band-Aids inside his checked luggage.
Photo: U. S. Customs & Border Protection
Plop plop, fizz fizz, Oh what a…heckuva lot of cash that is.
A man trying to fly to the Middle East out of JFK Airport was busted with more than $770,000 in cash hidden in boxes of Alka-Seltzer, Thera-flu, Dove soap and Band-Aids inside his checked luggage, federal authorities announced Tuesday.
Abdulkarim Altareb, 48, was trying to board a plane to Qatar on March 1 when US Customs and Border Protection officers asked him to declare the cash he was carrying.
Altareb lied on a Customs form that he had $6,500 – under the $10,000 limit – but then pulled out just $5,870, court papers state.
When the suspicious agents searched his checked luggage they discovered thick rolls of crisp $100 and $50 bills jammed into a variety of drug store finds — and a pair of black Adidas high-top sneakers.
“Examination of two pieces of luggage checked by the defendant revealed more than $770,000 in additional United States currency, concealed in various places, including boxes of the following: hand soaps; Band-aids; Thera-flu; Splenda and Alka-Seltzer.
“Cash was also hidden in soles of shoes, and in the lining of a jacket inside of one of the checked bags,” reads a criminal complaint, filed in Brooklyn federal court on Tuesday.
There were even wads of Franklins and Grants hidden in dozens of packets of Sazon Goya Latin seasonings.
When Homeland Security officers showed up to question the Yemen-born Altareb, he said, “We are trying to build a building in Yemen. This is my brothers’, two brothers’ money,” the complaint reads.
“The defendant also said, in sum and substance, that some of the money was his money, and some of the money belonged to his family, and that he has a big family.”
A law-enforcement source said there was no indication that the money was meant for terrorist or violent groups.
Altareb was charged with “bulk cash smuggling” and held without bail at his Brooklyn federal court arraignment, but he will appear in court Wednesday so his lawyer can propose a bail package, according to a spokeswoman for federal prosecutors.
The public defender who represented Altareb at his arraignment declined to comment and the smuggler’s retained counsel didn’t return a call for comment.
