Two Cleveland-area brothers were indicted on Thursday by federal prosecutors for fraud and money laundering schemes after allegedly posing as members of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) royal family to run a crypto scam and con investors out of millions of dollars.
Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq Al Zubair, 41, and Muzzammil Muhammad Al Zubair, 30, were indicted in federal court in Cleveland, Ohio, on charges involving wire fraud, money laundering, and theft of government funds, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of Ohio.
The brothers face one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud, 14 counts of wire fraud, one count of conspiracy to engage in money laundering, four counts of money laundering, and one count of theft of government funds. Zubair also faces one count of harboring a fugitive.
Prosecutors said the men had engaged in multiple schemes, including investment fraud, a Small Business Administration (SBA) COVID-19 relief loan, cryptocurrency mining, a commercial real estate lease, and a residential real estate lease.
The Al Zubair brothers also lied about having extraordinary wealth and connections to politicians and foreign governments, with Zubair even falsely stating that he was married to a princess, and thus a member of a royal family in the UAE, federal prosecutors added.
Zubair even signed off with “His Excellency” when corresponding with people, the indictment noted.
Muzzammil, meanwhile, touted having a pet tiger at his mansion in the UAE, according to a source who knew him, who spoke to Breitbart News on condition of anonymity.
“He told me he had a pet tiger back at his place in Dubai,” the source said. “He told me this story about how he had this tiger since it was a little cub, how he had it living in this huge cage for years, and how he goes in there and cuddles with the tiger.”
Muzzammil also lied about being an experienced hedge fund manager, according to prosecutors who said he wasn’t registered with any regulating agencies, and that his only financial education came from watching YouTube videos.
The men also trashed a mansion Zubair was renting in Bratenahl, a wealthy village roughly 5 miles from downtown Cleveland, which has been home to senators, actors, doctors, surgeons, NBA players, and at one time, Khloe Kardashian.
Zubair allegedly used falsified paperwork to rent the mansion, which was located in a gated beachfront community on East Hanna Lane off Lakeshore Boulevard, according to a report by Cleveland.com.
The Bratenahl mansion was reportedly owned by Dr. Nizar Zein, the Cleveland Clinic’s chief of hepatology. Zubair paid the doctor up front for the first year of rent, but stopped paying in March 2023, prosecutors said.
Zubair also used the luxurious home to hide fugitive Kelvin Bedell — who is wanted on federal criminal charges — from authorities, prosecutors claimed.
In August 2023, FBI agents raided the mansion using flashbang grenades and seized 83 guns, 39 luxury watches — including Richard Milles, Rolexes, and Patek Philippes — a 2022 Mercedes-Benz S 580, and a 2021 Indian Scout Bobber Sixty motorcycle.
Zubair and Muzzammil had also purchased private jets and $15,000 in surveillance equipment for their rented home, as well as rented a $4,000 high-end hotel room in Cleveland, and a $83,000 suite at a Browns game, prosecutors said.
One investor duped by Zubair was a former cryptocurrency miner from China. Another was a romantic partner from the UAE, who invested in his company, Dubai Bridge Investments, giving him about $860,000, authorities added.
The Al Zubair brothers reportedly scammed the Chinese investor for 11 months, during which time they told her that they owned Nela Park — the headquarters of General Electric Lighting in Cleveland — and that they could get cheap electric rates.
The men even used Nela Park as their backdrop during a 2021 meeting with East Cleveland Mayor Brandon King and his staff, resulting in the Chinese investor signing a contract in the mayor’s office and subsequently paying the brothers $3 million, the indictment read.
Zubair and Muzzammil reportedly went on to steal more than 1,000 crypto miners from the Chinese investor, later selling them to a Canadian company for $6 million.
Prosecutors also allege that Zubair falsely claimed to be in the restaurant business in order to obtain $27,400 from an SBA coronavirus relief loan. The brothers then used the money on airline tickets, hotels, and pocketed $6,000, the indictment stated.
Both men pleaded not guilty at their arraignments in front of U.S. District Magistrate Judge James Grimes. They have since been released from custody on $20,000 unsecured bonds.
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