CHICAGO: Half-brothers from East Cleveland, Ohio, who pretended to be UAE royalty and scammed local government officials and business investors of millions of dollars beginning in 2020, have been given lengthy prison sentences by a US federal judge.
Convicted in February after a lengthy trial, they used the fake names Zubair Mehmet Abdur Razzaq Al-Zubair and Muzzammil Muhammad Al-Zubair, and operated under a fake company called Dubai Bridge Investments.
Claiming to be Emirati royals, they juggled six multimillion-dollar fraud schemes with the help of East Cleveland’s then-Mayor Brandon King and his Chief of Staff Michael Smedley, prosecutors said.
King was convicted in a separate trial while Smedley was convicted in the same trial as the brothers, whose real names are Zubair Razzaq and Muzzammil Muhammad.
They used the memory of their father, who worked for years in the East Cleveland Recreation Center and was well-known in the community, to open government doors.
As their schemes ramped up in 2021, they took on the surname Al-Zubair, stealing it from the name of a conglomerate of 60 businesses based in Oman called Zubair Corp. They claimed to be from the UAE, however.
Razzaq was sentenced to 24 years in prison while Muhammad received 23 years, both for a laundry list of crimes. They were ordered to repay more than $21 million in restitution.
Their crimes include defrauding East Cleveland out of $10 million and including in their schemes King and Smedley, who were also charged with corruption.
King appointed Razzaq as East Cleveland’s international economics adviser, and he and Smedley opened doors for the fake business ventures. They allegedly kicked back bribes and favors.
The brothers gave Smedley lavish dinners and Cleveland Browns sports tickets. Text messages between them showed that they discussed giving Smedley cash, according to the indictment. He was sentenced to eight years in prison.
In May 2025, King was convicted of 10 corruption charges including “theft in office” and “unlawful interest in a public contract,” charges that went back to before meeting the brothers.
The jury found that King steered contracts and public money to companies owned by him and his relatives, and conspired with the brothers.
Former East Cleveland City Councilman Ernest Smith was found guilty in the same trial as King of being involved in the corruption.
The brothers used their false image as UAE royalty and political connections to steal money from their victims, prosecutors said.
They grifted $17.8 million from a Chinese investor, telling her they owned a large vacant industrial complex in East Cleveland that they showcased during a meeting with King. The historic site, Nela Park, was the nation’s first industrial park, established in 1913.
In another case, the brothers engaged in a $9 million cryptocurrency scam, stealing money in July 2021 from a Chinese woman who owned a cryptocurrency mining business that was outlawed in her country.
The brothers illegally squatted in the locally famous Bratenahl Mansion, using it as the base for their wealthy image.
Razzaq also scammed an unnamed romantic partner from the UAE who invested in Dubai Bridge Investments, prosecutors said. She sent him about $860,000 for the fake business venture.
He had a history of financial problems, having left East Cleveland in the early 2000s for Chicago, where he worked as a cab driver and later opened a coffee shop that quickly failed.
In less than a year, he owed more than $9,000 in electric bills and $18,000 in rent, according to court records.
Razzaq claimed he was married to a UAE princess, often signing his correspondence and documents with the title “His Excellency.”
He struck close and romantic relationships with many of his victims, becoming so controlling that the female victims would not question his decisions, prosecutors said.
Muhammad told people that he was “an experienced hedge-fund manager.” But he was not registered with any regulatory agencies, and he admitted that his only education on financial issues came from watching YouTube videos, prosecutors said.
Before the corruption schemes, in 2008 Razzaq left Ohio for the UAE and worked his way up to CEO at AWGAL Investments, a Dubai-based financial company. He helped launch chains of Wingstop and Mooyah Burger restaurants in the country.
