Founder of Halal Co. Sentenced to Two Years in Federal Prison
The founder of Midamar, an export company charged with fraud for sending “halal” meat to Malaysia that failed to meet halal slaughtering standards, has reportedly been sentenced to two years in federal prison and ordered to pay $60,000 in fines and $184,983 in disgorgement. Midamar was fined $20,000 and ordered to forfeit $600,000.
A U.S. Department of Agriculture investigation revealed that William Aossey, Jr. instructed his employees at Midamar to change the application forms to indicate the meat had been produced at a Malaysia-approved facility instead of Midamar’s unapproved supplier. Aossey was convicted of making false statements on export applications, selling misbranded meat and committing wire and mail fraud in July 2015. The court cited Aossey’s advanced age and lack of criminal history to lower his sentence from the guideline sentencing range of 87-108 months. Aossey’s sons, Jalel and Yahya, have also been convicted of similar charges and will be sentenced on March 11, 2016. Details about Aossey’s conviction appear in Issue 572 of this Update.
“IRS Criminal Investigation is committed to unraveling complex financial transactions and schemes of this nature to assist our law enforcement partners,” an IRS agent said in a February 25, 2016, press release. “The proceeds of illegal activity are used as fuel to continue their criminal conduct.” See Department of Justice Press Release, February 25, 2016.
Issue 596
