Two men, Mohanad Al-Zubaidi and Shaker Saleh Mohammed Hauter, have each been sentenced to three years in prison for running an unlicensed money-transmitting business. The operation involved transferring over $65 million between the United States and several Middle Eastern countries, including Yemen, Turkey, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan. This sentencing follows their guilty plea on January 15, 2025, before U.S. District Judge P. Kevin Castel.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton commented: “Mohanad Al-Zubaidi and Shaker Saleh Mohammed Hauter ran an underground financial network that illegally transferred tens of millions of dollars between the United States and the Middle East. The sentences imposed yesterday send a clear message that those who operate these unlawful financing networks will be held accountable.”
Court documents reveal that between 2018 and 2022, Al-Zubaidi and Hauter facilitated numerous illicit money transfers ranging from thousands to hundreds of thousands of dollars. They typically earned commissions ranging from one to six percent per transaction. The scheme operated through "hawala," an informal money transfer system often exploited by money launderers and criminals to move funds internationally.
In addition to their sentences, Al-Zubaidi of Piscataway, New Jersey, aged 37, and Hauter of the Bronx, New York, aged 52, are also subject to two years of supervised release. They have been ordered to forfeit $385,000 and $430,000 respectively.
This case was praised for the investigative efforts of the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation and the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, with additional support from U.S. Customs and Border Protection. The prosecution was conducted by the Office’s General Crimes Unit, with Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew J. King and Amanda C. Weingarten leading the case.