Citing court documents, the New York Post says the US is arguing that businessman Ed Ahmad recruited promising Guyanese cricketers, lined them up with cricket clubs and used them as straw buyers in the mortgage scheme that he has been charged in.
In a report in today’s edition the Post said that the scandal which has also enmeshed New York Rep. Gregory Meeks has an unusual collateral victim – the US Cricket Team.
It noted that the captain of the squad, Steve Massiah, was arrested for allegedly participating in a US$50 million mortgage-fraud scheme allegedly run by Ahmad.
Ahmad, the report said, would recruit promising cricket players from Guyana, link them up with New York cricket clubs and employ them in his scheme as straw buyers. The report sourced the information to court records.
The Post report said that by day they would “work” for Ahmad’s Century 21 realty office in Ozone Park. During off hours, they would be playing cricket.
The report said that some of the players participated in the annual Ed Ahmad Cricket Cup in Queens, one of the key contests for the national team.
Massiah, 32, an Ahmad employee, became captain of the US Cricket Team — and his Nov. 22 arrest has thrown the squad into disarray, the report said.
“I’m concerned,” said one team official.
Massiah was busted along with two real-estate colleagues. His passport was confiscated, and he seems certain to miss a crucial March qualifying tournament in Dubai.
The batsman is said to be furious with Ahmad, the Post said.
Massiah, who did not respond to requests for comment, has entered into plea discussions with the US Attorney’s Office, court records show.
Noting that Ahmad who was arrested in July is also discussing a plea deal with the feds, the Post report said that the authorities are interested in what he might tell about the US$40,000 he gave to Meeks in 2007, which the congressman didn’t disclose until the FBI questioned Ahmad about it. The House Ethics Committee is currently probing whether it was an illegal gift.
Also charged with Massiah were Qayaam Farrouq, 42, who plays in a New York cricket league, and Mohamed Gurmohamed, 58. Both were real-estate salesmen in Ahmad’s office.
The Post report said that the three cricket-playing salesmen seemed pivotal to Ahmad’s alleged scheme.
They are accused of falsifying mortgage documents, increasing the value of the properties they were allegedly buying, and also making themselves seem more creditworthy, according to court documents.
In Massiah’s case, he applied for a US$292,500 loan from Countrywide in 2007 to a buy a home in Jamaica, New York falsely stating he earned US$6,650 a month as a manager at Ahmad’s catering company, court papers show.
He said he planned to live in the Jamaica home, when in reality he was buying the property with Ahmad. Ahmad compensated him for participating in the scheme, government documents show.
Massiah didn’t make any mortgage payments, and the home was sold two months later, presumably with Ahmad pocketing the profits, the Post report said. City records show it was sold for US$413,400.
Ahmad, both a broker and loan officer, the Post noted is accused of participating in 163 suspect loans with Countrywide in 2006 and 2007 alone and has been linked to a total of 361 shady property deals. He profited from sales commissions and excessive loan fees, the feds say.
Ahmad, 44, became an important cricket supporter in the city, starting his tournament in 2003, the Post noted. The competition ranged teams representing Caribbean countries against one another and would draw some 1,000 fans to its final game.
“He was definitely seen as an icon of sorts — someone who was actually able to get things done,” Lester Hooper, cricket director for the New York City region, told the Post.
