South Suburban Liquor Store Owners Charged with Sales Tax Evasion

Two southwest suburban business owners were arrested on charges of sales tax evasion after a two-year investigation into interstate liquor bootlegging, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan announced.

Abdel Fattah Hammad, 41, of Tinley Park, and Yasir Kanan, 38, of Oak Lawn, were arrested along with seven other liquor store owners accused of illegally selling untaxed, bootleg liquor brought in from outside Illinois.

Kanan is the owner of Jeff’s Food and Liquor, 8258 S. Halsted St. Hammad owns Al Muflihi Food & Liquors, 5404 S. Halsted St. Both businesses are located in Chicago.

Hammad, and six other liquor store owners, are each facing a Class 1 felony charge of sales tax evasion of over $100,000, a crime punishable by up to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Madigan said the investigation, termed “Operation 7 & 7,” was a joint effort between her office and the Illinois Department of Revenue’s Criminal Investigations Division. Agents executed search warrants at seven Chicago liquor stores.

Five of those charged were arrested by IDOR special agents, including Hammad, with the assistance of the Bridgeview and Palos Hills Police Departments, Wednesday morning on no-bond warrants. The remaining business owners later surrendered to authorities. All nine appeared in bond court Thursday afternoon.

Hammad appeared in Bridgeview Thursday afternoon for a bond court hearing before Cook County Judge John Gallagher, where he was charged with sales tax evasion of over $100,000, a class 1 felony which is punishable by up to 15 years in the Illinois Department of Corrections.

Between July 2010 and December 2013, Assistant Attorney General Claire Lusher said Hammad had evaded paying over $100,000 in sales tax generated from his Chicago store. She further alleged that Hammad was part of a larger conspiracy with the seven other liquor stores in the Chicago area to defraud the state and Cook County of $3.5 million in sales tax.

Hammad’s attorney told the judge that his client suffered from a hyperthyroid condition and Graves disease in the eyes. He asked the court to consider a $125,000 bail with ten percent to apply, stating that was the amount in which Hammad is accused of skimming.

Any funds used to pay bail would be from legitimate sources and not liquor store proceeds. The attorney said that IDOR agents arrested Hammad at his used car lot, Luxury Motors Credit Inc., 7158 S. Harlem Ave., Bridgeview.

Madigan filed charges against the following nine individuals:

• Abdel Fattah Hammad, 41, of Tinley Park, IL: Al Muflihi Food & Liquors;
• Cherag Patel, 39, of South Bend, IN: AB Food and Liquor;
• Dipakkumar Patel, 41, of Munster, IN: Jeff’s Food and Liquor;
• Jiggarkumar Patel, 37, of Schaumburg, IL: AB Food and Liquor;
• Mukesh Patel, 62, of Des Plaines, IL: Buddy’s Wine & Spirits;
• Nishant Patel, 33, of Des Plaines, IL: Liquors Galore (doing business as Maple Park Wine & Spirits), Buddy’s Wine & Spirits, and Madison Food and Spirits;
• Rajanikant Patel, 44, of Hoffman Estates, IL: Quickstop Food and Liquor;
• Vishal Patel, 31, of Des Plaines, Illinois: Buddy’s Wine & Spirits; and
• Yasir Kanan, 38, of Oak Lawn, IL: Jeff’s Food and Liquor.

Kanan and his business associate, Dipakkumar Patel, are each facing a Class 2 felony charge of evading sales tax of more than $10,000, a Class 2 felony punishable by three to seven years in prison.

Bail for Hammad was set at $100,000, with ten percent to apply. He is due back in court Oct. 9 at the George N. Leighton Criminal Court Building at 26th and California, Chicago.

“Today’s arrests are part of a concentrated effort between my office and the Department of Revenue to crack down on tax evasion and illegal interstate liquor sales,” Madigan said in a written statement. “This should send a message that doing business in Illinois means following the state’s laws without exception.”