Businessman charged with laundering money for accused North Royalton drug dealer who

CLEVELAND, Ohio— A Conneaut businessman laundered money for a North Royalton man accused of dealing large amounts of cocaine and stashing $2.4 million in a storage facility, according to federal investigators.

Rueben Schwartz, 49, is charged with money laundering in a compliant filed last week in federal court in Cleveland. A magistrate judge ordered him held in custody until a detention hearing on Thursday.

Schwartz owns several businesses in Conneaut, including a real estate investment firm, a construction company, a drive-through beer business and property management companies. His attorney, Sam Amendolara, did not respond to a message seeking comment.

Schwartz laundered money for Marc Mahoney, who was arrested by investigators of the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration in February, according to court records.

Mahoney bought two buildings in Conneaut for $360,000 from Schwartz’s business, but when they filed official paperwork, the two concealed the amount of cash by saying Mahoney only paid a combined $110,000, according to a DEA agent’s affidavit that was filed in court.

Mahoney bought the building that houses the Cripsy Biscuit on Park Avenue and a building on Main Street that had once housed a thrift store.

He paid cash in $100, $50, and $20 bills wrapped in rubber bands and carried in a “man purse,” according to the DEA affidavit.

Schwartz put some of the money in his personal safe, used cash to buy a property in Pennsylvania and put some of the money toward a drive-through beer business he owns called Port District Beverage, according to the court filing.

Schwartz told investigators that he used an attorney to write up the purchase agreement in the way Mahoney wanted it done.

Investigators searched Schwartz’s home and found $15,000 in his safe. A person cooperating with investigators, but who was not named in court records, recorded a conversation with Schwartz in which he hinted at hiding the rest of the money, which investigators have yet to find.

Mahoney and Schwartz both told an unidentified business partner of Schwartz’s that Mahoney could pay cash for the buildings because he sold baseball and basketball cards, sneakers and second-hand clothes and had family wealth.

The two met after Schwartz’s company installed flooring in a rental property where Mahoney lived at the time.

DEA agents arrested Mahoney and two others in January during an investigation into a cocaine pipeline that stretched from Mexico to Cleveland. Wiretaps picked up Mahoney talking about a break-in at his home where some $600,000 worth of drugs and $100,000 in cash were stolen, according to court records.

Federal agents ultimately raided his home and a storage facility on Carnegie Avenue in Cleveland and seized $2.4 million in cash and 22 kilograms of cocaine. He pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The DEA affidavit also says Schwartz is under investigation on suspicion of insurance fraud and arson in connection with the Feb. 8 fire at the former Golden Anchor, a restaurant on Harbor Avenue. He had owned the building.

The building, which was vacant, was destroyed, and investigators later determined the fire was caused by arson, court records say. No charges have been filed in that case.