A graduate of American University in Cairo, with a master’s degree from Georgetown University in Washington, Abdel-Wadood was arrested at his hotel while in New York to shop for colleges for his son.His lawyer Benjamin Brafman declined to comment after court and wouldn’t say what schools the family was looking at.A lawyer for Naqvi in Dubai didn’t immediately return an email seeking comment on the charges.Founded in 2002, Abraaj grew to become the Middle East’s biggest private equity fund and one of the world’s most influential emerging-market investors, with stakes in health care, clean energy, lending and real estate across Africa, Asia, Latin America and Turkey. The two are accused of conspiracy, wire fraud and securities fraud.In court on Thursday, Griswold said the evidence against Abdel-Wadood included secretly recorded calls and meetings, encrypted messages and millions of documents and computer files.Griswold said the U.S. had planted a geolocation tracker on Abdel-Wadood’s phone. Abdel-Wadood, dressed in a sports jacket, black shirt and jeans, didn’t speak during the proceeding.Abdel-Wadood’s surprise apprehension was reminiscent of the 2016 arrest of Turkish-Iranian gold trader Reza Zarrab, who was taken into U.S custody while on a family trip to Disney World in Florida.After being held in jail for more than a year, Zarrab agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and testified against a Turkish banker who was convicted last year of helping Iran evade U.S. financial sanctions.Naqvi was charged in United Arab Emirates in a $217 million bounced-check case, which was settled after the court sentenced him to three years in prison. Naqvi was out of the country at the time.The case is U.S. v. Naqvi, 19-cr-00233, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan). - Bloomberg

Source: The Star April 24, 2019 08:37 UTC