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The accused mastermind behind the plot, 66-year-old Mohammed Ranko of Hasbrouck Heights, hatched the scheme from the Bergen County Jail, where he’s been held since November 2011, Ehrenberg said.
Ranko “hired a former inmate from the Bergen County Jail to put together a crew to kidnap the owner of a Paramus business [whom] he had an alleged financial disagreement with,” the chief said.
The co-conspirator and his crew had “already bought ski masks, tape, ropes and wire to bound the victim,” Ehrenberg said. “They had also obtained a van that was to be used to drag the victim out of a Paramus parking lot.”
What’s more, he said, they broke into an above-ground mausoleum in an Englewood cemetery “where they intended to restrain the victim until they received further orders from Ranko.”
Ranko, in turn, promised to pay them $1 million in cash once the job was done, the chief said.
Hackensack police got wind of the plot about two weeks ago and told their Paramus colleagues.
An investigation headed by Paramus Police Sgt. Robert Von Schalscha also included the Bergen County Prosecutor’s and Sheriff’s offices, Ehrenberg said.
Ranko’s bail was increased to $500,000 with the new charge of conspiracy to commit kidnapping. He was already being held pending trial on charges of kidnapping, aggravated assault and threatening to kill someone.
The current investigation is continuing, and other arrests are expected.
MUGSHOT: Courtesy PARAMUS PD
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