"US PROSECUTORS kept  the investigation and prosecution  of Nidal Waked secret so they could arrest him in Colombia as in Panama he could have used his connections to the government to block his extradition, says a Florida judge.

The statement came out when the judge cleared  Tomas Zafir, a  merchant partner of Nidal Waked in Florida,

Judge Robert Scola, considered that Zafir was deprived of his right to opt for an abbreviated trial, enshrined in the Sixth Amendment to the US Constitution.
In a letter dated October17, Scola says that "Zafir played a minor role in the crimes under investigation", while Waked would be "the big fish".
Zafir was jailed since he surrendered to authorities in Florida July 20. The prosecution entered the Court of Southern Florida on March 24, 2015 District, but was sealed until May 5, a day after the arrest of Waked in Bogota, Colombia, where he is awaiting extradition to the U.S.
Judge Scola’s  brief shows that the prosecutors chose to secure the arrest of Hatum Waked, before making public the indictment against him and Zafir.
Rich and well connected
"The Government maintains that the delay after the indictment resulted from the urgent need to first take Waked to be under the jurisdiction of this court.

“He is a rich and well-connected Panamanian who played a much bigger role in this conspiracy"  adds the statement.
The judgment says US government investigators took several years to obtain the necessary evidence.

The events under investigation occurred between January 2000 to February 2009, and others from January 2008 to December 2011, during which time according to the indictment, funds were transferred to and from the United States and Panama, knowing that they  came from the manufacture, importation, sale and distribution of "controlled substances".
The government needed to keep the investigation and prosecution secret in order to preserve the opportunity to capture Waked.

“ Panama probably would not extradite Waked a Panamanian citizen. Waked could have used his connections with the government to block any attempt to extradite him.

“ To prosecute  Zafir without first securing the extradition of Waked would endanger the entire investigation, " the document continues.
50 years sentence
The charges against Waked have not been dismissed.
According to the indictment of prosecutors Wilfredo Ferrer and H. Frank Tamen,  he faces a maximum penalty of 50 years imprisonment: 20 on two counts of money laundering and 30 by bank fraud.
Zafir was the manager of Star Textile Manufacturing, a Florida company whose president and owner was Nidal Waked.

The indictment of prosecutors Tamen Ferrer notes that Waked and Zafir tried to defraud the Ocean Bank in Miami, where Star Textile kept an account.

The two accused officers informed the bank that the money received on account by Vida Panama, Z.L., S.A. -the business of Waked in the Colon Free Zone (CFZ) - came from loans obtained by the company in Panamanian banks.

[caption id="attachment_60915" align="alignleft" width="300"] Abdul Waked[/caption]

Ringleaders
The United States Department of the Treasury accuses Nidal Waked and his uncle Abdul of being the "ringleaders" of a criminal organization that laundered drug money, and is inscribed on  the Clinton List.
Also listed are the son of Abdul, three brothers, Nidal and two lawyers, as well as 68 companies used by what has been termed by the US authorities: "The Waked Money Laundering Organization".