A federal court has ordered a mover to pay restitution and serve home confinement after he pleaded guilty to extorting money from a consumer.
On Sept. 9, Philadelphia’s federal court sentenced Mohammad Hamdan, a.k.a. Alex Hamdan, of Raleigh, N.C, to 10 days in prison, six months home confinement and 36 months of supervised release. He also must pay $7,500 in restitution to the U.S. Department of Transportation Office of Inspector General.
Last November, Hamdan pleaded guilty to extortion and conspiracy for attempting to extort money after being hired to move a household goods load from San Francisco to Philadelphia. Between November and December 2012, he conspired with his co-defendant, Mohammad Sabbar, to extort money by demanding payments exceeding the consumers’ contractual obligation. They also threatened to withhold delivery of the household goods unless their demands were met.
Investigators said Hamdan and Sabbar demanded $9,000 more than the $1,467 that remained owed on the consumer’s contract. After the extorted proceeds were deposited into Hamdan’s bank account, most of the goods were released to the consumer, who had waited in excess of three months for delivery.
Last February, the same federal court sentenced Mohammad Sabbar, aka Ali Sabbar, of Schnecksville, Penn. Sabbar received 60 months probation and was ordered to pay $1,500 in restitution to the DOT OIG after pleading guilty to conspiracy to commit extortion.
