Dearborn Heights pharmacist charged in $10.6 million insurance fraud ring
March 23rd, 20220 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A Dearborn Heights pharmacist has been arrested for her role in a $10.6 million insurance fraud ring. Zeinab Makki, 59, was charged with one count of healthcare fraud the same day her husband, Wahid Mohamed Makki, was charged with wire fraud and money laundering for using more than $1 million in COVID relief...
Dearborn Heights man accused of using $1 million in pandemic relief to buy Middle East condo
March 23rd, 20220 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A Dearborn Heights man has been charged in connection with a scheme to buy a condominium in the Middle East. The complaint claims that Wahid Mohamed Makki, 59, used more than $1 million in federal pandemic relief funding to buy a condominium in the Middle East. He is charged with wire fraud and money...
Dearborn Police investigating road rage incident involving victim struck with vehicle
March 22nd, 20220 DEARBORN — The Dearborn Police Department says that on Monday, March 14, at approximately 2:30 p.m., officers responded to a 911 call at the intersection of Schaefer Road — north of Butler — near Ford Motor Company Gate 9, where a woman was reportedly struck by a blue sedan of an unknown make/model. The driver was described as a...
Dearborn Heights car dealership part of man’s $200,000 vehicle scam
March 22nd, 20220 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A Flint man is being accused of scamming multiple dealerships across the state out of $201,000 worth of vehicles, including a dealership in Dearborn Heights. Eddie Hendrickson, 40, is accused of using stolen Social Security numbers and driver’s licenses to apply for approximately 10 auto loans totaling more...
Dearborn police caution public about dangers of “Orbeez Challenge” TikTok trend
March 21st, 20220 DEARBORN — The Dearborn Police Department is warning the public about a new TikTok trend that has had them responding to numerous incidents already. The “Orbeez Challenge” TikTok trend involves targeting bystanders with gel blaster guns filled with water-absorbent polymer beads. Over the last several weeks, the Dearborn...
Jury finds Farmington Hills youth accused of killing his mother guilty
March 18th, 20220 PONTIAC — On Monday, Muhammad Altantawi, 20, of Farmington Hills was found guilty of killing his mother, five years after he was accused of the crime. After a two-hour deliberation, an Oakland County Circuit Court jury came back with a verdict that could mean life in prison without parole for Altantawi. The trial took time...
Jewell Jones to serve two years probation in drunk driving, resisting arrest convictions
March 17th, 20220 HOWELL — On Thursday, A judge sentenced State Rep. Jewell Jones (D-Inkster) to two years' probation for an April drunk driving incident that led to a physical altercation with police on I-96 in Livingston County. Livingston County Circuit Judge Michael Hatty credited on the sentence the 61 days Jones served last fall as well as...
Dearborn bank robbery suspect caught hiding in porta-potty
March 15th, 20220 DEARBORN — A suspect in the robbery of Dearborn Federal Savings Bank was identified by Dearborn police and caught hiding in a porta-potty. On March 2, the suspect walked up to the window at Dearborn Federal Savings Bank on Michigan Ave. near Military and gestured to his hip, implying he had a weapon before handing the bank teller a...
12 doctors get prison time for $250M opioid scheme
March 11th, 20220 DETROIT – A dozen doctors are among 16 people in Michigan and Ohio who have been sentenced to prison in an opioid scheme that included the distribution of 6.6 million pills and $250 million in false billings, authorities said. The health care fraud exploited patients suffering from opioid addiction, the Justice Department said in a...
Detroit man wanted for shooting sister arrested in Tennessee after car chase
March 11th, 20220 DETROIT — Nashwan Ali, 36, of Detroit, wanted for shooting and killing his sister on Tuesday, was arrested in Tennessee a day later following a police chase. Ali is believed to have gotten into an argument with his sister, after which he allegedly killed her at a home on Bloom Street just north of Hamtramck. He fled and was...
Doctor accused of sexual assault, believed to have fled to Syria, caught in Canada
March 11th, 20220 MACOMB COUNTY — A Macomb Township doctor wanted by authorities over accusations of sexual assault was caught in Canada after he was initially believed to have fled to his native Syria. Dr. Mfed Mosely, a pediatrician, is accused of sexually assaulting at least three of his young female employees, trying to buy their silence and...
TikTok star arrested for robbery in Dearborn
March 11th, 20220 DEARBORN — TikTok star “ChozenWrld” has been arrested in connection with the robberies of four convenience stores in Commerce Township, Novi and Dearborn. Chozen Terrel-Hannah, 22, of Redford Township, confessed to the robberies after being arrested by the FBI after they linked his social media accounts to shoes worn by the...
Dearborn couple pleads guilty to multiple charges over false bankruptcy, tax evasion
February 24th, 20220 DEARBORN — Abraham Elsaghir, 52, and Samar Elsaghir, 51, have pleaded guilty to numerous charges stemming from false bankruptcy reporting, tax evasion and food stamp fraud. Authorities say that in May 2017, the Elsaghirs filed a voluntary Chapter 7 petition of bankruptcy and received a discharge of their debts in August 2017. But...
Men who killed Ahmaud Arbery found guilty of hate crimes
February 23rd, 20220 BRUNSWICK, GA — A federal jury has found the three men convicted of killing Ahmaud Arbery guilty on all counts of interfering with the victim’s civil rights, almost a year after the young man's death. The jury told Judge Lisa Godbey Wood that they found father and son Greg and Travis McMichael and their neighbor, William...
State Rep. Jewell Jones pleads guilty to charges stemming from a drunk driving incident
February 17th, 20220 INKSTER — After a nearly year-long legal battle, State Rep. Jewell Jones (D-Inkster) has pleaded guilty to charges stemming from a vehicle incident last year. The incident occurred in April when Jones had driven his vehicle into a ditch on I-96 in Livingston County and had a blood alcohol content of 0.17 percent, more than the......
Michigan Supreme Court throws out part of conviction in 2013 porch shooting death of Renisha McBride
February 17th, 20220 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — The Michigan Supreme Court unanimously threw out part of a Dearborn Heights man's 2014 conviction in the shooting death of a woman the previous year, saying his constitutional rights were violated. The court, which began reviewing the case in October, decided that Ted Wafer, who was sentenced to 17 years in...
Wayne man charged in connection with the death of a Dearborn man
February 16th, 20220 DEARBORN — A 31-year-old Wayne man has been charged in connection with the homicide of a Dearborn man that occurred on Feb. 11. Michael Steven Hicks was charged on Feb. 16 in the suspected homicide and faces one count of first-degree murder and one count of felony murder. He faces life in prison without parole if convicted. At......
Updated: Local mosque arson suspect believed to be Arab American, may have suffered mental health episode
February 12th, 20220 UPDATE: The Arab American News has learned from sources that the suspect in the attack on the Al-Huda mosque Saturday morning is believed to unfortunately be a member of the Arab American community. Authorities believe he may have been suffering a mental health episode at the time of the fire attack. Local and federal law...
Dearborn police investigating potential homicide on city’s northeast side
February 11th, 20220 DEARBORN — At approximately 9 a.m. on Friday, Feb. 11, Dearborn police and fire responded to the 7500 block of Indiana for a medical assist. Upon arrival, officers discovered a deceased 78-year-old man and a 31-year-old suspect had been taken into custody in connection with the incident. Detectives and crime scene investigators...
Former Macomb County prosecutor set to go to trial for conducting criminal enterprise, other felonies
February 10th, 20220 MOUNT CLEMENS — Former Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith is being sent to trial for a litany of felony charges made against him in 2020, including embezzlement, misconduct in office and conducting a criminal enterprise. Three others were also charged in the investigation. Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office, along with...
Dearborn police warn of larceny of airbags
January 28th, 20220 DEARBORN - The Dearborn Police Department is issuing a public advisory on a recent uptick in thefts of vehicle airbags throughout the city. The thefts seem to be aimed at GM vehicles, the Chevrolet Malibu specifically. Individuals have been observed targeting vehicles parked on city streets or in parking lots in the overnight......
Serial killer who lived in Dearborn Heights featured on new docuseries
January 26th, 20220 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A serial killer who once struck in Dearborn Heights is the subject of an episode of a new TV show on Oxygen called Twisted Killers. John Eric Armstrong was born in New Bern, North Carolina on Nov. 23, 1973. He joined the United States Navy in 1992, and upon being honorably discharged in 1999, he enrolled at...
Dearborn Heights pharmacist sentenced to nearly six and a half years for insurance fraud
January 25th, 20221 DEARBORN HEIGHTS — A Dearborn Heights pharmacist has been sentenced to 77 months in prison for defrauding healthcare insurers. Federal officials said that the pharmacist defrauded insurers out of nearly $10 million. Mohamad Ali Makki, 46, was sentenced in federal court, U.S. Attorney Dawn Ison said. U.S. District Judge Linda......
West Bloomfield housekeeper accused of stealing more than $500,000 from homeowners
January 20th, 20220 WEST BLOOMFIELD — Police say a 39-year-old housekeeper was arrested after stealing more than $500,000 in luxury items from homeowners over the last four months. According to police, the investigation started in mid-October and is connected to at least 20 different items that were stolen from homes throughout southeast...
Ex-Detroit councilman Andre Spivey receives two-year prison sentence for bribery
January 20th, 20220 DETROIT — Former Detroit City Councilman Andre Spivey has been sentenced to two years in prison after pleading guilty to bribery. Spivey had resigned in September after pleading guilty and admitting to accepting more than $35,000 in bribes in exchange for towing contracts. The court said that it will delay when he has to report......
