Michigan men accused of Strip kidnapping, extortion over gambling debt

Three Michigan men have been arrested in a violent kidnapping and extortion plot at a Las Vegas Strip hotel room that targeted a man who owed huge gambling debts, police said.

Issa Hamade and Ahmad Harb, both 32, and Sobhi Sobh, 33, were arrested and booked Wednesday at the Clark County Detention Center on charges of first-degree kidnapping, extortion, conspiracy, battery with intent to commit mayhem, robbery or grand larceny, and coercion with force or threats.

Hamade was identified in court proceedings as a dentist from Dearborn, Michigan. Harb works as a disc jockey while Sobh is a physical therapist.

Metropolitan Police Department arrest reports for the three allege they lured Naved Azim of New York to a hotel room at MGM Grand. There, police said Azim was beaten, strangled, suffocated with a pillow, gagged and stuffed in a closet. Authorities contend the men then demanded $185,000 from Azim’s father to cover gambling debts owed to Harb, police said.

At one point, a three-second video call was made to Azim’s father, showing Azim beaten and on his knees. A message was also sent from Azim’s phone, police said.

“Listen, your son scammed me of 185K in fake sports bets. I want my money, period,” the message said, according to police.

The gambling debt may have been even higher than $185,000, police said, with Harb telling police after his arrest that Azim owed him $325,000.

Hamade’s attorney, Michael Troiano, said during an initial court appearance in Las Vegas Justice Court on Thursday that his client is an upstanding citizen, and that Azim was involved in what he described in court as a fraudulent gambling scheme.

“My client had absolutely zero involvement whatsoever in the bets, the conspiracy, essentially any of the alleged facts other than he was supposedly in this hotel room,” Troiano said.

A representative of the Clark County public defender’s office said Harb has no criminal record. Sobh’s attorney, Ryan Helmick, said “there’s going to be a lot to uncover” regarding the facts of the case.

Police said robbery detectives were first notified Wednesday that Azim was being held against his will somewhere in Las Vegas and that Azim’s father was being extorted. Messages, video calls and phone calls were sent to Azim’s father, threatening to kill his son if he “did not provide the $185,000 by end of day,” police said.

The father contacted his son’s friend and learned his son might be in Las Vegas. Azim’s friend told police Azim was headed to Las Vegas to meet an old gambling acquaintance, and that Azim had a gambling problem. Azim’s girlfriend also told police Azim has a gambling problem and was experiencing financial hardship.

An analysis of phone records by police showed Azim was somewhere on the Las Vegas Strip, so police sent an urgent message to Strip properties to be on the lookout for Azim. Representatives of MGM Grand responded, saying they believed Azim was seen at two of their properties the day prior. Police investigated further, learning Azim was staying at a room at MGM Grand with Harb.

Police went to the room and found Harb and Azim. Azim, police said, “had visible bruising around his eyes, mouth and cheeks.”

Azim told authorities he’d been engaged in sports bets with a “promoter/bookie” which led to him meeting Harb. Harb, police said, asked Azim to place a $2,300 bet on a New York Knicks basketball game which held the potential for a large payout. Azim never placed the bet but told Harb that he did, he told police. The bet proved to be a winner with a payout of $20,000.

“Naved did not tell Harb that the bet was never placed and decided to create a fake DraftKings sports betting ticket to reflect the bet,” police said.

Harb then continued to place bets with Azim, police said.

“Naved agreed to place the bets but did not actually do so due to lack of funds,” police said. “The bets that Harb believed were being placed continued to win, which eventually tallied up to a total approximate value of $100,000 in ‘winnings.’ Naved believed that Harb would eventually lose a bet which would help cover up his lie of placing the bets; however, that did not happen.”

Azim told police he continued to make fake Draft Kings sports betting tickets to reflect the bets, but Harb started asking for his money and started to threaten Azim when he didn’t pay up, police said. Harb then told Azim to meet him in Las Vegas, which he agreed to do, police said.

They met at the MGM on Tuesday, and soon Harb was joined by three men, police said. On Tuesday night, police said Harb, Azim and a man who police say was Hamade went back to the hotel room.

“Upon entering the room, Hamade began confronting Naved about the money owed to Harb,” police said.

Hamade, police said, went through Azim’s phone and confronted him about making fake sportsbook tickets and using an app to fake a conversation with a DraftKings representative.

Azim told police Hamade battered him. Azim attempted to flee but he was pinned down when two other men showed up.

“The two additional males also began striking Naved, using pool table cues as weapons,” police said.

Azim said one of the men began strangling him with his hands and placed a pillow over his head to suffocate him, causing Azim to nearly pass out. Police said the man who did this was later identified as Sobh.

“Sobh also placed his hand in a black bag, mimicking a firearm inside of the bag,” police said. “Sobh claimed he had a silencer and would use it to kill Naved.”

Azim said he was continually beaten until he was allowed to call his father to ask for money.

“The males began taking photos of Naved’s family/friend’s locations, contact information, and addresses,” police said. “The males stated that they would hurt his family and friends if Naved did not pay back what was owed.”

Azim told police he was gagged and placed in a closet. He was at one point placed on his knees and pictured during a brief video call to his father, police said. Azim ultimately ended up in the hotel with just Harb when police showed up.

Harb told police he’d been deceived by Azim and that Azim owed him $325,000. Harb then invoked his right to an attorney. Sobh and Hamade also requested lawyers.

In court, Las Vegas Justice of the Peace Pro-Tem Lucinda Coumou set bail at $100,000 and ordered high-level electronic monitoring and no contact with Azim for all three suspects.

Justice Court records show Hamade has posted a $100,000 surety bond. Online records show that, as of Friday morning, the three men were still in custody at the Clark County Detention Center.

Contact Glenn Puit at gpuit@reviewjournal.com.