Samir Ramadan Held On $15M Bond; Youngest Brother Aims To Clear His Name

OCEAN CITY -- One of two local residents, indicted by a New York grand jury in May for allegedly being the “enterprise treasurer” for a vast money laundering operation with possible links to terrorism, was ordered held on a $15 million bond this week, while his alleged “ringleader” brother remains in custody without a bail review.

In mid-May, federal officials concluded an investigation into a vast, multi-million dollar cigarette smuggling operation with raids on two locations in and around the resort area including the West Ocean City homes of local residents Basel Ramadan, 42, who is being called the “ringleader and “boss” of the operation, and Samer Ramadan, 40, who is being called the “enterprise treasurer.” Federal officials also raided the Ramadan’s offices over the Subway restaurant they owned at Sunset Drive near 26th Street.

At the Ramadans’ West Ocean City homes in the Oyster Harbor community, $1.4 million in large black bags was recovered, along with 20,000 cartons of untaxed cigarettes. According to the New York Attorney General’s Office, the Ramadans and their 14 co-conspirators allegedly funneled thousands of cartons of untaxed smokes and millions of dollars in ill-gotten revenue through Ocean City and Worcester County from a wholesaler in Virginia to a distribution warehouse in Delaware, from whence the illegal, untaxed cigarettes were distributed to retail outlets all over New York City and upstate.
More