OPERATION GREEN ICE DISMANTLES MONEY LAUNDERING & STOLEN JEWELRY RING

BALTIMORE, April 20 /PRNewswire/ -- Lynne A. Battaglia, United States
Attorney for the District of Maryland, today announced the unsealing
of an indictment of two brothers and three other individuals for a
scheme that used secondhand jewelry stores in Bethesda, Maryland and
Washington, D.C. to launder drug proceeds and fence stolen jewelry.

The indictment is the result of a two-year undercover investigation,
named "Operation Green Ice," that was conducted by the U.S. Customs
Service office in Baltimore and the Montgomery County Police
Department under the umbrella of the Financial Investigations Group
of the Washington/Baltimore High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area. The
Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Internal Revenue Service also
participated in the investigation.

Today, April 20, 1999, Customs and IRS agents and officers from the
Montgomery County Police Department served search and seizure warrants
on 11 locations, including the Bethesda Jewelry Exchange at 7747 Old
Georgetown Road in Bethesda, Maryland, and the Jewel Collection at
1250 Wisconsin Avenue, N.W., in the Georgetown district of Washington,
D.C. The agents and officers seized inventory at these stores.

During this enforcement effort, Customs agents arrested brothers
Daniel Mutai, age 40, of Potomac, Maryland and Moshe Mutai, age 43, of
Bethesda, Maryland. The nine-count indictment charges the brothers
with violations that include conspiracy to commit money laundering,
laundering of monetary instruments, the sale or receipt of stolen
goods, and aiding and abetting. Also arrested were Robert Miller, age
39, of Potomac, Maryland, and Baruch Pondak, age 47, of Rockville,
Maryland. Andre Coxson, age 27, of Baltimore, has not yet been
arrested, but is being sought by law enforcement authorities. Each is
charged with conspiracy to commit money laundering. The indictment
also charges Pondak and Coxson with laundering of monetary instruments
and aiding and abetting.

According to the indictment, brothers Motai and Mutai have owned and
operated the Jewel Collection in Georgetown since 1989. At the Jewel
Collection, the brothers allegedly developed a clientele that included
drug dealers. Often, these drug dealer customers purchased jewelry at
the store with large sums of cash derived from narcotics sales, the
indictment charges.

When selling jewelry to these drug dealer customers, the brothers
purposely avoided generating receipts or recording the transactions in
the store's log, the indictment alleges. Furthermore, if such sales
involved cash transactions of more than $10,000, the brothers failed
to file a Form 8300 with the Internal Revenue Service, the indictment
alleges. Under federal law, retail businesses that receive more than
$10,000 in currency during a transaction must file a Form 8300 (Report
of Cash Payments over $10,000 Received in a Trade or Business) with
the Internal Revenue Service.

The indictment also charges that the brothers knowingly purchased
stolen jewelry at the Jewel Collection. The brothers allegedly failed
to record these jewelry purchases in the store's log or file the
required second-hand property report with authorities. In addition,
the indictment alleges that the brothers often dismantled the stolen
jewelry they purchased to prevent tracing the stolen jewelry to the
store.

According to the indictment, Moshe Motai took large sums of cash
generated by the Jewel Collection to his home and stored the money
under the floorboards. Beginning in 1989, he also arranged for large
sums of cash to be smuggled out of the United States to Israel, where
the funds were deposited in an account at Bank Hapoalim held under his
wife's name, the indictment states.

The indictment further alleges that money from the Israeli account was
wired to a Maryland bank account held under the name of Baruch Pondak.
The wire transfers were disguised as business loans. According to the
indictment, funds drawn an the Pondak account were then used to
purchase and open a second retail jewelry store, the Bethesda Jewelry
Exchange, in 1995.

Moshe Motai's brother, Daniel Mutai, was primarily responsible for
operating the Bethesda Jewelry Exchange. As was the case at the Jewel
Collection, the Bethesda Jewelry Exchange soon developed a clientele
that included drug dealers, the indictment states. These drug dealer
customers often purchased expensive jewelry with cash derived from
narcotics sales, the indictment alleges.

When selling to his drug dealer customers from the Bethesda Jewelry
Exchange, the indictment alleges, Mr. Mutai filed no sales receipt,
Form 8300, or other record of sales. Mr. Mutai would further assist
his drug dealer clients by providing then false paperwork to
legitimize their source of income to authorities and by exchanging
small denomination bills for large denomination bills, the indictment
states.

In addition, the indictment alleges that Mr. Mutai purchased stolen
jewelry at the Bethesda Jewelry Exchange. During these transactions,
Mr. Mutai allegedly made no record of such transactions and purposely
failed to file the required reports with authorities. According to
the indictment, Robert Miller assisted Mutai in the day-to-day
operations of the Bethesda Jewelry Exchange and helped him with drug
dealer customers and with the purchase of stolen Jewelry.

The charges carry maximum sentences of 20 years on the money
laundering charges and 10 years on the stolen property offenses.

U.S. Attorney Lynne A. Battaglia noted: "Laundering drug profits and
providing a market for stolen property facilitate crime. Federal law
enforcement in partnership with local police are determined to end
the low risk, high profit business of those who deal with the dealers."

Jeff Casey, Special Agent In Charge (SAIC), U.S. Customs Service,
Baltimore, said: "This investigation once again revealed the Achilles
heel of street level drug traffickers -- disposal of street level
cash." Casey said, "large sums of unexplained cash draws quick
attention from law enforcement, banking and other financial
institutions. This awareness is the result of the emphasis placed by
the Federal government and many states in educating the law
enforcement, financial and retail sectors in identifying potential
money laundering activity."

In this investigation, Casey said, "several money laundering
techniques were employed to avoid law enforcement and financial
institution scrutiny. This activity included large amounts of cash
being smuggled out of the United States and deposited in a foreign
bank. Other methods included the exchange of drug dollars for
expensive jewelry as well as exchanging small denomination bills for
larger, more easily concealable bills." Casey said, "No matter what
the method, the intent is the same -- conceal and disguise the true
origin of money."

U.S. Attorney Battaglia and SAIC Casey commended the outstanding
collaborative investigative efforts of the Montgomery County Police
Department, the U.S. Customs Service, the Internal Revenue Service,
and Federal Bureau of Investigation.