A Guyanese businessman with deep ties to embattled Queens Rep. Gregory Meeks is close to a plea deal to settle mortgage fraud charges, according to documents filed in Brooklyn federal court today.
Edul Ahmad, a friend of Meeks who once loaned the eight-term congressman $40,000 and later pressed him for an introduction to convicted Ponzi schemer Alan Stanford, faces up 30 years in prison for his alleged $50 million fraud.
He was busted last July as he attempted to board a Guyana-bound flight.
His attorneys are now in talks with the feds “to finalize their plea negotiations,” according to a letter submitted by Assistant US Attorney Alexander Solomon.
Both Solomon and Ahmad’s attorney declined to comment.
Ahmad’s relationship with Meeks, a Democrat from southeastern Queens, was not part of the criminal complaint, which centered around the use of straw buyers to rip off Countrywide Home Loans.
The two men’s relationship, however, came under intense scrutiny in 2010 when Meeks admitted he only repaid the 2007 loan for $40,000 after federal investigators asked about it.
The House ethics committee has its own probe over whether the money was a loan or an improper gift.
The US Attorney’s Office opened an investigation in 2010 into both Meeks and state Sen. Malcolm Smith after The Post reported they founded a Hurricane Katrina relief charity that failed to document most of its spending.
A spokeswoman for Meeks had no comment about the potential plea deal.
Ahmad has long been subject to probes regarding his real estate business, including investigations by the Queens District Attorney’s Office, state Banking Department and the state Department of State.
Home buyers have complained they were duped into taking out mortgages they couldn’t afford.
Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/news/l...VbUQ8O#ixzz2789fRnQ0
Ask Mitwahji, he will explain where thievery started.
