Crime & Safety
$1M Plot to Kidnap Merchant, Hold Him at Englewood Mausoleum Foiled, Cops Say
Would-be kidnappers were instructed to bound the Paramus business owner, hold him at an Englewood mausoleum until jail inmate Mohammed K. Ranko offered further instructions, authorities alleged.
by James Kleimann
A Hasbrouck Heights man already jailed on kidnapping charges offered a crew $1 million to kidnap a Paramus businessman and hold him in an Englewood mausoleum, authorities charged Thursday.
Mohammed K. Ranko, 66, was hit with conspiracy to commit kidnapping for allegedly masterminding a plot in which a former former Bergen County Jail inmate would assemble a crew to kidnap a Paramus businessman Ranko had financial disputes with.
The crew, to be paid $1 million cash after completing the job, had already bought ski masks, tape, ropes and wire to bound the unsuspecting merchant when Hackensack police received news of the plot, Paramus Police Chief Kenneth said Thursday.
"They had also obtained a van that was to be used to drag the victim out of a Paramus parking lot," Ehrenberg said. "The suspects had also located and broken into an above ground mausoleum located in an Englewood NJ cemetery where they intended to restrain the victim until they received further orders from Ranko."
Ehrenberg credited Paramus Sgt. Robert Von Schalscha and officers from the Bergen County Prosecutor's Office and Bergen County Sheriff's Department for foiling the scheme.
Ranko has been behind bars in Hackensack since Nov. 2011 on charges he kidnapped, assaulted and threatened to kill someone. His bail, already at $125,000, was increased by $500,000.
The investigation remains active and charges are pending against the alleged co-conspirators, Ehrenberg said.
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