Boca brothers, racketeering convicts, snagged on gun charges

Two brothers affiliated with a high-profile, exotic car dealership are facing gun charges after federal agents descended on Domani Motor Cars, two Boca Raton residences and a 65-foot yacht Wednesday.

Michael Ghanem, 57, and his brother, Abbas Ghanem, 48, both of Boca Raton, were formally charged in court Thursday with being felons in possession of a firearm. Abbas Ghanem, who was released from custody after posting a personal surety bond, was convicted on a federal racketeering charge, a first-degree felony, on Nov. 25, 2002, and his brother was convicted of the same charge the next day.

No guns were found Wednesday at the auto dealership or on the yacht, Enigma, according to court documents. But at Abbas Ghanem's house, 1320 Royal Palm Road, federal agents with the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives found 23 firearms, half of which were loaded, and two suitcases filled with boxes of ammunition, court papers said.

At Michael Ghanem's house, 299 NE Spanish Trail, agents found a loaded magazine in the master bedroom nightstand, two loose rounds of ammunition in a gun safe and a hunting rifle and boxes of ammunition underneath his daughter's bed, according to court papers.

Michael Ghanem is identified in court papers as running Domani Motors at 70 SW 10th St Deerfield Beach. But his wife, Darlene Daik-Ghanem, said she's the owner and that her husband, the dealership's sales manager, and his brother, a salesman, will no longer be working there.

She's firing them and getting a divorce, she said.

"I married an idiot," she said, of the father of her four children, ages 17 to 25. "It's unfortunate. I do everything by the book."

Michael Ghanem will be detained at least until his pretrial detention hearing scheduled for Monday, according to his lawyer, Richard Lubin of West Palm Beach. His brother was released Thursday on an $800,000 personal surety bond, he said.

Michael Ghanem told federal agents he had gotten the guns in the hope his civil rights would soon be restored.

Sun Sentinel

Ageggis@sun-sentinel.com, 561-243-6624 or Twitter @AnneBoca