Date: November 5, 2021 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov CHICAGO — Two businessmen have been charged in federal court with running a fencing operation out of their suburban Chicago stores. Ziad I. Zayed, also known as "Zee," and Mosas I. Zayed both of Frankfort, Ill., are charged with conspiracy to receive and dispose of stolen property across state lines. The Zayeds, who are brothers, were arrested Tuesday. They are scheduled to appear for detention hearings today at 2:30 p.m. before U.S. Magistrate Judge Gabriel A. Fuentes. According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Chicago, the Zayeds used their store – Crestwood Electronics Inc. in Crestwood, Ill. – and other businesses to knowingly purchase stolen electronic devices and other merchandise, re-package the items, and then ship them to re-sellers out of state and overseas. Some of the items fenced by the Zayeds included laptop computers, fitness tracking devices, and digital cameras that were stolen last year from railcars near Chicago, the charges allege. The complaint and arrests were announced by John R. Lausch, Jr., United States Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois; and Emmerson Buie, Jr., Special Agent-in-Charge of the Chicago Field Office of the FBI. The government is represented by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Ann Marie E. Ursini, Melody Wells, and Barry Jonas. The public is reminded that a complaint is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and entitled to a fair trial at which the government has the burden of proving guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. If convicted, the Court must impose a reasonable sentence under federal statutes and the advisory U.S. Sentencing Guidelines.
