ROANOKE, Va. (AP) — The owner of a Virginia auto dealership has been placed on home detention for taking $30,000 in drug-tainted cash for a car, officials said. Abdul Ahad Nahibkhil, 36, accepted the money from Internal Revenue Service agents who led him to believe it was drug proceeds in connection with an undercover investigation of Blue Ridge Auto Sales, The Roanoke Times reported.
U.S. District Judge Michael Urbanski said during a sentencing hearing on Friday that the law Nahibkhil broke aims to prevent drug dealers from hiding their money. Nahibkhil, am Afghanistan immigrant, said he was “very, very deeply sorry for what I’ve done.”
Last year, Nahibkhil pleaded guilty to failing to report a 2018 transaction to the IRS after being told that two payments of $15,000 each came from drug trafficking. The undercover exchange was captured on video. Federal law requires the reporting of cash payments of $10,000 or more within 15 days.
