Summerville Man Pleads Guilty in $7.5M Cigarette Trafficking Conspiracy

A Summerville man has pleaded guilty in a conspiracy to traffic $7.5 million in stolen cigarettes, U.S. Attorney Bill Nettles announced Tuesday.

Kamal Quzah, 50, of Summerville  pleaded guilty to two counts of false statement to a federally insured institution, which carries up to 30 years in prison.  

Others pleading guilty were Syed Ahmed, 43, of North Charleston; Moinuddin Patwary, 26, of Lexington;  and Chandon Podder, 45, of North Charleston. 

The Hon. Sol Blatt Jr. accepted the guilty pleas. 

Ahmed pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen property in interstate commerce. Podder pleaded to structuring a financial transaction to evade reporting requirements. Patwary pleaded guilty to conspiracy to receive stolen property in interstate commerce.

Between September 2009 and November 2011, agents with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives began an investigation into the buying and selling of stolen cigarettes. Undercover agents conducted approximately 27 separate sales of purportedly stolen cigarettes, ranging from a few thousand dollars to over a million, to several individuals in North Carolina and South Carolina, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney Office in Columbia. In all, agents received more than $7.5 million from the sales.   

After the cigarettes were illegally purchased, they were offered for sale at various retail locations, including some in the Charleston and Columbia areas. 

Defendants Ahmed and Patwary pleaded guilty to providing cash for illegal cigarette purchases on several occasions, in amounts ranging from $200,000 to around $525,000, authorities said. Ahmed and Patwary offer the stolen cigarettes for sale at various retail outlets under their control.  Podder worked at a retail cigarette outlet, and structured the illegal cigarette sale proceeds into bank accounts in order to avoid mandatory financial reports, the release said. 

Quzah, although originally charged in the conspiracy, pleaded guilty to related charges of providing false information to a bank regarding accounts he held in 2002 and 2007.   

A sentencing date has not been set.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Nathan Williams of the Charleston office is prosecuting the case.