A Yemeni businessman with reputed ties to terrorism was found guilty yesterday of illegally funneling more than $20 million overseas through his Brooklyn ice cream shop.
It took a federal jury nearly four hours to convict Abad Elfgeeh, 50, of using his Park Slope store to run an underground money-wiring service to send bundles of cash to countries all over the world without a license.
Prosecutors claim the now-closed store, Carnival French Ice Cream, was once used by Yemeni Sheik Mohammad Ali Hassan Al-Moayad, who was sentenced in July to 75 years in prison for attempting to provide millions of dollars to al Qaeda and Hamas.
But the jury was never allowed to hear about any possible terror links, only the overabundance of evidence that Elfgeeh and his nephew, Aref, wired $21.9 million by setting up numerous “feeder” accounts.
Elfgeeh admitted on the stand that he would deposit money into those accounts then have it transferred back into Carnival’s account before being wired to 20 different countries.
He also claimed he never knew a license was required to run such a service. The jury also determined that he pay more than $21 million in restitution – despite the fact that the money he sent came from people who used his service.
Judge Sterling Johnson also ordered both men to be held until their sentencing Dec. 12. They had been out on bail.
“He was stunned,” said Elfgeeh’s lawyer, Frank Hancock outside of court. “He was troubled.”
Hancock, who had called his client the “mayor” of the Yemeni community in Brooklyn, said he plans to appeal the ruling.
Elfgeeh had pleaded guilty to the charges in 2003, but was allowed to withdraw it last year after stating his lawyer at the time had not made him fully aware of the hefty 11-year sentence that came with the deal. He now faces 15 years behind bars.