Money laundering charges dropped against Minnesota men after I-90 arrest
Kane County prosecutors have dismissed felony money laundering charges against two Minnesota men who were arrested after a traffic stop on Interstate 90 in May 2014 in which authorities found $78,000 and a load of chewing tobacco and cigars that were not affixed with tax stamps.
Attorneys for Ibrahim M. Aqel, 46, and Zuhair H. Abudaya, 45, both of Shoreview, said the men were in the area to buy furniture for their tobacco shops and were returning expired tobacco products to their supplier.
Glenn Sowa, the defense attorney for Abudaya, explained that in Illinois and Minnesota, only cigarettes or mini cigars are required to have tax stamps and therefore the men did nothing wrong.
"They were taking expired product going back to their distributor for either destruction or credit," Sowa said. "These were legitimate businessmen from Minnesota who happened to be traveling in Illinois for business-related activity."
Donald Zuelke, attorney for Aqel, agreed with Sowa that prosecutors did the "right thing" by dropping the charges, which carried a penalty of anywhere from probation to seven years in prison if convicted.
"I think it was a misunderstanding by the officer regarding the law. The type of tobacco they had didn't require stamps," Zuelke said.
According to the sheriff's office, the men were pulled over near I-90 and Route 31 near Elgin because of an obstructed license plate.
Authorities saw a bunch of opened boxed of tobacco in the van and after getting permission to search it, found $78,000, along with 1,570 containers of chewing tobacco, 27 packages of smoking tobacco, 85 boxes of cigars and four more large boxes of chewing tobacco.
All of the tobacco and cash were seized.
Prosecutors said the charges were dismissed because there was not enough evidence to proceed and that the civil forfeiture case remains active.
Sowa said he fully expects the seized items to be returned to his client and his business partner. The forfeiture case is next due in court April 6.