A Dearborn Heights man put a contract out on the life of Wayne County Assistant Prosecutor and Arab American Political Action Committee Endorsement Chair Abed Hammoud, who was investigating the man for mortgage fraud, according to federal court records unsealed this week.

Sabastian Restum

The Detroit News reported Thursday that Sabastian Restum, a 40-year-old, unemploymed Lebanese American, was charged with witness tampering in U.S. District Court on Thursday in Detroit.
He was ordered by U.S. Magistrate Judge Mona Majzoub to be jailed until a detention hearing scheduled for Wednesday.

An FBI affidavit contains information about the alleged “hit” and also corroborates the complaint of witness tampering.

It states that Restum was the target of a large mortgage fraud investigation jointly launched in fall 2007 that Hammoud was in charge of.

The “hit” was allegedly to be executed when Hammoud next traveled to Lebanon, where he was born and some of his family lives, according to the FBI affadavit.

The alleged mortgage fraud involved more than $10 million in loans.

Restum is also accused of threatening the man he told about the alleged “hit,” Ali Harajali, a driver who worked for Restum. Harajali was allegedly told that he should not testify in the case and his life was threatened, according to allegations in the FBI affadavit. Restum pointed to Harajli’s wife and said, “You better be careful or I’ll make your children fatherless,” the affidavit alleges.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Leonid Feller.

Neither the Prosecutor’s Office nor Restum’s attorney have commented on the allegations of putting a hit out on Hammoud.

Hammoud said Thursday night that he could not comment because of the ongoing investigation.