Waseem Hamadeh is a real estate investor and broker in the Phoenix Arizona area. He is the brother of GOP candidate Abe Hamadeh and the son of Jamal Hamadeh who had previously been indicted for conspiracy to commit arson. Waseem, according to his company’s website, has been a top broker specializing in everything from short sales to land transactions. Waseem has recently opened his own real estate brokerage HOH (House of Hamadeh) Investment Group. Waseem appears to be successful and hardworking, but there are several red flags that cloud his well-crafted image. Waseem has recently been involved in a few troubling events that should make investors think twice about working with him. Allegations of theft, fraud, and anti-semitism have recently been uncovered against the Hamadeh family.
Waseem’s father Jamal came to the United States in 1989 on a visitor’s VISA while Waseem was a young boy in Syria. Jamal settled in the city of Chicago and became a Jeweler in the diverse far north community of Budlong Woods. The Budlong Woods neighborhood became notorious in the mid-1990s for the Mikro Kodesh Anshe Tiktin Synagogue firebombing. Early on Sunday, July 10 1994, attendees arrived to the synagogue noticing smoke in the air. Early congregants discovered a fire in the synagogue basement. Investigators later found that the fire was the result of a Molotov cocktail through the basement window. The Jewish community of the Budlong Woods area had fallen victim to antisemetic vandalism, arson, and violence for decades. The Mikro Kodesh fire was the just the latest in a series of synagogue vandalisms. Many believed that the fire at the Mikro Kodesh was retaliation for the recent arson conviction of three Palestinian men that had recently been convicted for a previous synagogue fire.
Investigators were able to track down the two men responsible for the fire – Jami “Johnny” Derywosh and Edmond “Heavy” Hanna, members of the local Assyrian Kings gang. They both confessed to setting the fire and both told investigators that they were offered $3000 up front to set the fire and were told that they would get $1000 once the job was completed. Both told investigators that the payment was being made by a “jeweler” who was tight with the Palestinians that had recently been convicted and that he “was wanting him to burn the synagogue in retaliation against the Jews.” They would also claim that the jeweler never paid the remaining
The suspects ultimately named Jamal Hamadeh as the man who offered money for setting the fire. Police arrested Hamadeh late in the evening at his store, Emperor Jewelers. Hamadeh would initially claim that he did not know the suspects but quickly recanted admitting that he had been acquainted with the young men. Despite his claims of innocence, a grand jury indicted Jamal Hamadeh for solicitation and arson. Charges would later be dropped against Hamadeh after one of the suspects mysteriously changed his story even when offered a plea deal for lesser time served.
While being investigated for the conspiracy, details of Jamal’s expired VISA were discovered. The investigation as to Jamal’s involvement in the Mirko Kodesh arson lasted into early 1996 and though charges were ultimately dropped against Jamal, new legal complications arose regarding his expired VISA. Jamal’s visitors VISA expired in late 1989 and the jeweler and his wife were ordered to leave the country voluntarily. The order for Jamal and his family to return to Syria was dismissed after attorneys successfully argued that Jamal’s children that were born in Chicago are United States citizens and the family was allowed to take advantage of the “anchor baby” provisions to remain in the country.
Questions remain about Jamal’s involvement in the Mikro Kodesh and potentially other antisemetic activities while in Chicago. How does Waseem feel about this? Does he share the same sentiments as his father that may lead to violence or other conspiracies against Jewish people. Does Waseem disclose his father’s alleged involvement to his Jewish clients?
Potential Campaign Finance Fraud:
Waseem’s younger brother Ibrahim (Abraham) Hamadeh is currently the GOP candidate for the Arizona state Attorney General. The thirty-one year old Abraham (Abe according to his campaign ads) struggled when his campaign began in late 2021. Pinning his campaign hopes to investigating the 2020 Arizona general election aligning with former President Donald Trump’s dubious claims of election fraud, Abe found himself in a deep field of Republican Attorney General candidates. Waseem’s brother, Abe, had trouble speaking to any qualifications to the office and failed to provide any proof of true conservative principles. Abe’s early fundraising was just as meager as his campaign support having collected only $80,000, $72,000 of which came Jamal Hamadeh. Abe’s only hope to win the nomination was to appeal to Donald Trump for his endorsement which would require a proof or claim of “frontrunner” status by inflating his fundraising numbers.
It is unclear if Abe had approached Waseem or if Waseem had volunteered “a loan” to his brother, but Abe announced a donation of $1 Million just days before the first quarter campaign fundraising filings were due. Abe’s announcement of the large donation caught national attention and left his opponents questioning where the money had come from. Abe’s strategy paid off as the donation announcement quickly brought Trump’s endorsement. Three days after the quarter one financial disclosures for campaigns were reported for quarter 1, the $1 million dollars mysteriously disappeared from Abe’s balance sheet. When asked about what happened to the donation, Abe played it off as debts being repaid and day to day campaign expenses. It was relatively easy for reporters to trace that the donation was repaid to Waseem.
Whether or not Waseem assisted his brother violate a campaign finance rule, it definitely asks some serious questions especially about the character of the Hamadehs’ ethics and integrity. Did Abe disclose to the former president that this was a loan and not a donation? What was promised to Waseem with such a large loan? Will Abe turn his head if there are fraud investigations into Waseem or his businesses? If Waseem was comfortable in helping his brother falsely inflate the campaign’s finances, how comfortable then is Waseem at inflating his own records? Potential investors should demand answers of him.
Theft & Lawsuit
Waseem’s father, Jamal, established a real estate trust for his children to benefit his children in the event of the father’s death. Jamal moved several properties within the trust. The trust gave directions to how the properties ownership would be distributed upon Jamal’s passing. Jamal’s directions noted that the properties were to still be managed by the father until his passing and that Jamal could continue to make adjustments to the trust and the land within the trust at any time. All of Jamal’s children, Waseem, daughter Raneem, and Abe agreed to the trust language by way of signed written agreement. In 2013, the children, including Waseem, transferred properties from the trust to WRA holdings LLC just a few years after the establishment of the trust. Jamal found out about the unauthorized transfer by chance and asked the children to transfer the real estate back to the trust. The children, according to the lawsuit, failed to comply with Jamal’s order even after realizing that they were in breach of the written agreement. Jamal ended up suing his children to have the properties returned to the trust. The suit was quickly dropped as the children moved the properties back into the trust.
Despite the lawsuit being dropped quickly this is troubling for many reasons. Why was Waseem so eager to move these properties into his own portfolio? How did Waseem miss the very clear details as to the direction on the trust? What made Waseem and his siblings want to attempt to “steal” the properties from his father? Does Waseem disclose this lawsuit to his current or potential clients? This lawsuit brings up some serious character issues regarding Waseem that should make investors think twice about the ethics and integrity of the broker.
Waseem has made a decent living by selling the image of being hard working and charitable but there is too much evidence that suggest that Waseem has some integrity issues. Investors would be wise to stay away from Waseem and any of his businesses.