The U.S. Attorney's office has cleared Twin Cities real estate investor and developer Ned Abdul and business associate John Barlow after a lengthy investigation into possible money laundering, wire fraud and tax fraud.
First Assistant U.S. Attorney John Marti confirmed that no criminal charges will be filed and the case is over, but declined to discuss the investigation.
Abdul, one of the area's more enigmatic real estate players, has ownership stakes in a number of buildings in the Warehouse District of Minneapolis, as well as other commercial properties around the Twin Cities. He has a taste for renovating old buildings, converting the old Whitney Hotel in the Mill District into condos, for instance.
He and Barlow co-owned the now defunct Karma nightclub and the Epic event center, both in the Warehouse District.
Federal authorities raided the men's homes and the office of Abdul's Swervo Development Corp. near Target Field two years ago as part of an inquiry into possible fraud. Accusations that included skimming cash from the clubs and submitting fake invoices to the U.S. government and other tenants of Abdul's office buildings were contained in a 37-page search warrant affidavit filed in 2010.
Officials have since returned the cash they seized, as well as a truckload of documents.
The U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), the two leads on the investigation, declined to discuss the episode.
"There was probable cause to have a search warrant issued," said Vicki Petricka, an IRS Special Agent and public information officer for the St. Paul field office. "Sometimes, claims against subjects aren't always substantiated."