The FBI and area law enforcement carried out a massive early morning bust Wednesday, arresting 50 Houston-area residents as the U.S. Attorney's Office announced a series of wire fraud indictments stemming from an alleged fraudulent bail bond scheme.
The arrests came after a first-of-its-kind investigation that had been in the works for at least two years, according to a news release.
Staff involved with the investigation said AABLE Bonds falsified financial documents to secure temporary release for individuals who would not have otherwise met the requirements.
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Of the indictments issued, three individuals remain at large. Law enforcement officials are still searching for the remaining suspects and asked that anyone with information regarding their whereabouts contact the Houston FBI office.
Harris County bail bond board member Mario Garza scheduled a 6 p.m. news conference Wednesday to comment on the "fraud schemes linked to Harris County bail bond companies."
Authorities said AABLE Bonds recruited individuals who co-signed bond agreements and falsely stated they were employed or had incomes that met the threshold necessary to serve as a co-signer. According to the news release, these fraudulent documents resulted in at least 11 individuals receiving bonds they were not qualified for.
AABLE Bonds CEO, 58-year-old Sheba Muharib of Missouri City, was one of the individuals named in the indictments. Muharib became the subject of scrutiny just over two years ago, when, in February of 2022, a fellow bail bondsman accused her family of “doing things that they shouldn’t be doing,” during a Commissioners Court meeting.
Muharib, according to a Houston Chronicle article from September 2022, became the target of a federal inquiry shortly afterward. While both she and one of her brothers, Anthony Muharib, lost their ability to write bonds, a third brother, Wisam Muharib, retained his license.
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The bust was so sprawling that law enforcement had to use an NRG facility as a processing area for those detained.
Law enforcement agencies, including the Houston Police Department and Harris County Sheriff’s Office, worked out of NRG park before dawn. FBI tactical teams also helped out of New Orleans and San Antonio.
Lines of unmarked vehicles soon flowed into the maroon lot ferrying several people who appeared to be in custody. Federal and local officials treated a building on the NRG grounds as a sally port for those apprehended in the operation.
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