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Khaled Hamade, 60, told a federal judge in Newark via videoconference Tuesday that he lied when he told agents investigating a fraud against a financing company that he didn’t know the suspects.
“Hamade denied knowledge of the identities and personal information of numerous customers of his jewelry store who were believed to have engaged in the fraud,” Acting U.S. Attorney Rachael A. Honig said.
The Lebanese immigrant, who managed the Newport Center store, took a deal from the government rather than go to trial, pleading guilty to providing false statements, Honig said.
U.S. District Judge Claire C. Cecchi scheduled sentencing for July 14.
Honig credited special agents of the FBI’s Newark Field Office and inspectors with the U.S. Postal Inspection Service with the investigation leading to Tuesday’s plea, secured by Senior Litigation Counsel V. Grady O’Malley of her Organized Crime/Gangs Unit.
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