Deadly Business | The FBI Files S3 EP9 | Real Crime

in the 1990s a close-knit immigrant community was terrorized by one of the two those who turn to the police for him found themselves threatened or killed despite the risk two men refused to back down their testimony could help end the killer if the FBI that posted to uncover one man's deadly business [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] many immigrants escaped the poverty of India to start new lives in the United States most ream of a better life for their families one twisted the American dream into a nightmare when people started turning up dead in New York's Indian community law enforcement struggled to lane fraud and murder to one powerful man I'm Jim Kallstrom former head of the FBI's New York office when the promise of the American dream was shattered by murder and corruption the FBI provided hope to those people who had seen their lives and families torn apart [Music] July 9th 1995 [Music] gas station attendant cool once sink commuted to a gas station in the Bronx to work the late shift less than a year earlier he had arrived in New York from a port town in him hoping to make a better life and selves [Music] that night he disappeared [Music] in October the missing man's brother Mon Mahon Singh traveled to the u.s. to find him he hadn't heard from his brother in months [Music] it wasn't like him not to write or call [Music] he began his search in Queens at the address of one of his brothers friends his name was sat in digits Inc his family was from the same villages the missing attendance although this friend had the same last name he was not related affected like many members of the Sikh religion the 10-digit took the surname Singh which means light on the double a hobby language certain digits said a missing persons report had been filed but police had found no trace of his friend revised the new arrival to be careful who he talked to searching for the brother would be dangerous [Music] bon Mahon visited the gas station in the Bronx where his brother had worked he spoke to an attendant but the man was afraid to respond his supervisor made it clear that no one should be asking questions the employee was instructed to keep but monahon was persistent and convinced the attendant to meet him at a diner a few days later the attendants said the missing brother had been accused of stealing from the gas station whether or not the allegations were true they had made the station's owner angry the attendant believed monahons brother had been kidnapped and probably killed by March of 1997 the year-and-a-half after his brother's abduction Mangla Han took a job at a gas station in New York he worked nights so he could spend his days secretly gathering information [Music] he believed he knew who was responsible and was ready to go to the police [Music] then on the night of March 16 1997 he was silenced Brooklyn north homicide detectives received a call from a customer who found the body they photograph the crime scene to record its condition than gathered evidence they collected two shell casings from a nine millimeter Ruger [Music] detectives found the register had been robbed but were surprised that the thief had left some cash behind police also found no fingerprints detective Tony Brasada concluded that robbery was not the prime motive we examined a scene and it looked like it was a typical gas station robbery at the beginning but then examining the scene thoroughly it seemed that it was more like an assassination or thought this person was a target because we shot very close ranged behind the head and he was on his knees detectives visited the Sikh temple where the funeral was being held they knew this immigrant community was wary of outsiders but hope to find Friends of the victim willing to talk that Inderjit Singh stepped forward he told detectives that he knew the slain man detectives explained that without cooperation the killer would likely go free okay although he knew he was jeopardizing his own safety he promised to meet with detectives and help them in any way he could the following day sat in digit Singh came to the police station as promised yes sir he brought with him another witness Sarge each who was also willing to talk it they told detectives they believed a wealthy and powerful Indian man named Enzo had ordered the murder of their friend as well as the abduction of their friend's brother dinza was a corrupt and ruthless businessman who was well known in the Sikh community like many others he had come to the u.s. from India in the mid-1980s with only a few dollars in his pocket but his story was different than most he had amassed an empire of more than 50 gas stations in and around New York City and which was common the witnesses knew several of Dinges employees and explained to detective Teddy Braun that the millionaire would stop at nothing to protect his business his whole thing was fear he used the fear tactic that he had this community petrified him I mean to the point where he could walk in and do something in front of hundreds of people and that no one's gonna say nothing police also learned that dinza was no stranger to crime his record included convictions for felony assault kidnapping robbery gas pump fraud and weapons possession [Music] he'd served time but always managed to get back on the street to run his mafia style operation within the Sikh community dinza was known as the Indian Godfather the witnesses said Dinges Empire was a family affair with Dinges brother a member of the inner circle and an enforcer for the organization the night our sheet had seen for himself just how ruthless the brother could be in 1993 outside at Queens restaurant the informant witnessed enza's brother arguing with a man this agreement ended with James's brothers shooting in a ghostly Surjeet rushed to the victims side but it was too late James's brother was spirited out of the country to India he was never captured the witnesses now told the detectives that they'd heard the brother would soon be returning to America they were risking their lives talking to police but they couldn't let the violence continue yes sir both promise to report when Gina's brother arrived he's going to be coming back to the United States because Dennis's company was getting so big that did you needed another hand and Vinson was the type of person where he'd rather have family hands-on than outside is when it came to his money true to their word in May of 1997 the witnesses told police that enza's brother was back in New York at least setup outside the warehouse at DIMMs US headquarters in Brooklyn waiting for his brother both witnesses were present to assist police with identifying the murder suspect [Music] never possible Karthik standby armed with an arrest warrant police surrounded the building and cordoned off all entrances including the back doors of the warehouse from the surveillance vans that tinted had confirmed that it was James's brother heading for the front door we have a target entry the building moments later officers reported that shots were fired inside the building they held their posts waiting for orders ready we're going in let's go [Music] officers forcibly entered the front of the three men raced out the back door into the hands of police the men were Jen's his brother his cousin and his nephew all three were arrested quickly securing a search warrant police confiscated firearms seven pistols a shotgun and a silenced machine game as they loaded the contraband into a police car dinza himself arrived at the same he protested decision claiming that the building and guns were his property but the guns were illegal police arrested him on weapons possession charges [Music] they took him to the hundred and twelfth precinct where dinza was booked and fingerprinted police pressured him to cooperate they had two witnesses who would testify against him and his brother for murders insisting he was innocent he refused to talk jinsa was held in the Brooklyn Correctional Facility awaiting a bail hearing but incarceration did not prevent the murder suspect from running his empire speaking in Punjabi so guards couldn't understand him he coerced employees and acquaintances to find out who dared to testify against him and his brother besides witness statements police had little other evidence ginsa would be out on bail shortly if he discovered the identity of the witnesses they might not testify then the murder and weapons charges against the brothers would have to be dropped in May 1997 New York City police arrested two East Indian brothers who had been terrorizing their immigrant community for years except for the statements of two witnesses investigators had little evidence against them but they believed that dinza was the ringleader and that he had ordered two murders in two kidnapping shinza had posted bail on May 4th 1997 just days after his arrest but his brother remained held on a murder charge in New York City's Rikers Island prison through informants dinza had learned the identity of the two witnesses against him if they continued to cooperate with the police he his brother and his multi-million dollar gas station empire would be in jeopardy one of the witnesses that Inderjit Singh was close with several employees of the suspected murderer he knew a great deal about how Denzel ran his sixty million dollar gas station chain [Music] [Applause] folders he said that dens are rigged pumps skimmed prophets and ordered people abducted if they talked detectives believe the information was compelling enough to seek an indictment in early June of 1997 investigators met with the assistant US attorney to explore danza's illegal activities NYPD detective Teddy Braun explained how den zz's pump rigging scheme worked then zone like 53 gas stations and he had this unique skimming system and what it did was it regulated the amount of gas that was pumped into a consumers vehicle so if you would have went in an extra $10 worth the gas he'd be able to set up that machine murk and give you 80% 90% whatever percent that he wanted to give you and the rest would be saved assistant US attorney Ben Campbell learned that not only was Vince's empire corrupt it was extensive the NYPD informed us that densa had among other things an organization built around pump fraud basically ripping off customers had his gasoline stations throughout the New York and New Jersey area by which he generated millions of dollars in income that he protected that pump fraud activity through a pattern of violent crime including murder On June 18th just as the federal investigation was beginning witness said 10-digit Singh was shot to death in Queens it was the day before Jones's brother suspected of murder was scheduled to attend the hearing at the crimes and a neighbor told police he had witnessed the crime he had been outside at the top of his students shooting took place since his apartment lacked air-conditioning he was watching a much game on his front porch [Music] he was distracted by what appeared to be [Music] the neighbor described the shooter as a tall african-american male but he never saw his face the slain man's cousin was sitting beside his relative in the car who was killed the cousin told police it it all happened so fast it was too shaken to remember any details forensic technicians photographed the scene they collected shelves that had been fired from a 9-millimeter handgun no other physical evidence was found nothing to prove that Denzil was responsible investigators believe that dinza would continue to use any means necessary to protect his millions they needed some way to stop him [Music] NYPD detectives turned to assistant US attorney Ben Campbell for guidance he would refocus the investigation to take advantage of the federal RICO statute the racketeering influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act a law used to prosecute organized crime this wolf like had all the hallmarks of a racketeering prosecution and had an organization with leadership it had racketeering activity which generated income and it had a pattern of criminal activity which spanned several years almost a decade this would widen the scope of the investigation considerably the assistant US attorney called on the FBI for help and Special Agent in Charge Kevin Donovan from the FBI's New York field office would Rogers the FBI was planning on conducting a traditional organized crime investigation that would focus on development of cooperating witnesses use of cooperating witnesses review of records and search warrants to focus on the multiple acts of violence and the multiple acts of fraud that would not be easy in order to develop new witnesses agents would have to ensure the safety of those who came forward as long as dinza Singh was able to intimidate witnesses through violence threats of violence and homicides our investigation would be very limited we needed to make sure that no other individuals who would cooperate with us would be hurt by Denso Singh news of the most recent killing spread quickly through the Sikh community the other witness sergeant and his family prepared to leave town investigators pleaded with him to allow the FBI to place him under protective custody but he insisted on taking his wife and two small children away from New York despite investigators best efforts dinza had intimidated another witness to the Sikh community the police in the FBI seemed powerless to protect them in the summer of 1997 the FBI was on the trail of a violent businessman named dinza investigators believed he had already killed two men kidnapped a third and scared another out of new they needed an informed close to densa to get enough evidence to arrest him I will get back but Special Agent in Charge Kevin Donovan found that dinza was well protected the major hurdle that the FBI in the New York City Police Department had to overcome was an inability to develop cooperating witnesses and informants early on due to language difficulties and due to the fact that most of the individuals who worked at City Gas Corporation were not willing to come forward because of dinza Singh's threats of violence and his acts of violence that were well known throughout the community dinza now threatened the life of another member of the Sikh community Ballwin Singh was close friends with a witness who had fled the city with his family the man was terrified Enza had come after him to find the one remaining witness he remained holed up in his apartment with his wife and daughter for three days before he finally called police he reached the Queens homicide you morning which was investigating the murder of set 10-digit Singh a witness against Enzo ball wanted hope police that he had attended the slain man's funeral there he was approached by one of Dina's men the assball one where the other witness was hiding dinza wanted to discuss the witness's testimony face-to-face vol.1 refused to tell him anything but now he feared for his own life police told him that they would discuss the possibility of providing him and his family with protective custody two detectives would be right over since the funeral he had been ignoring the demands of the construction company here when the company called they agreed to run an urgent errand he left his frightened family promising he'd returned as soon as he could he knew dentists reputation [Music] [Applause] [Music] it would be difficult to avoid him for very long just minutes after pulling out the man noticed a sedan seemed to be following him [Music] it was dizzy ball one didn't want to take any chances so he returned home jinzo's sped away as detectives headed for ball wants apartment they received a page it is a coded message from their supervisor asking them to call in immediately lacking a self when they stop to make the urgent pull while the detective was on the phone he noticed an Indian man watching him closely we decided to invest in the detectives asked the driver for his license and registration it was dinza when detectives asked to search his car he agreed inside they found some gas receipts in the trunk detectives also found electronic gauges for gas pumps Ginza possessed nothing that was illegal since there was no outstanding warrant for his arrest detectives let him go the detectives were called away on an emergency they never made it to the informants home that day the next morning the man's frightened wife told police her husband had taken refuge in a friend's gas station he waited anxiously for them to arrive and was relieved to see them pull up [Music] his wife and daughter were picked up moments later that evening the family was taken to an undisclosed hotel outside of New York the family would hide there under police protection until dinza could be arrested detectives inform ball want that they had run into Danza near his neighborhood they asked if he could verify the man's identity from a photo all want identified him instantly [Music] investigators had one more witness in their case against the deadly businessman but they still lacked sufficient evidence to make an arrest in July of 1997 FBI agents and NYPD detectives believed gas station mogul Vinson was the man behind the murders of two Indian immigrants and the disappearance of a third [Music] investigators had little evidence to prove it [Music] and Dinges intimidation and silence most witnesses but a few among the community were tired of living in fear at the end of July Brooklyn North homicide detective Teddy Braun interviewed a source close to dinner Doheny interview with the confidential informant My partner Tony Lazzara came across a name Marvin who was linked as densa singh's strong arm the man's full name was Marvin Dodson he was a 35 year old african-american male detectives discovered that he had an arrest record for illegal firearms they showed a photo lineup to the cousin of the slain witness who was in the car when the shooting occurred [Music] he immediately identified Dodson as the gunman detective Anthony Brasada now began searching for Marvin Dotson my partner myself put together a list of various location about 6 or 8 locations where he hung out his residence his relatives on July 4th 1997 police cornered Dotson in a Queens neighborhood they arrested and took him to the station Dodson agreed to testify against dinza in return for a lighter sentence on Sunday morning July 6 1997 Dodson and his attorney met with Queens homicide detectives the assistant US attorney and the FBI Dodson confessed that he had been hired by dinza for the murder Dodson said the plan to kill one of the witnesses began on May 18th 1997 at the time Ginza had just been released or dead Dodson would be the triggerman hired to kill the witness scheduled to testify against dinza and his brother first they picked up the murder weapon a nine-millimeter ruler the same caliber of shell casings were later collected at the crime scene Dodson told investigators that dinza then ordered him to hire a driver for the hit Dinges next move was to conduct surveillance of the witnesses [Applause] assistant US attorney Ben Campbell red falls the dinza provided Dodson with all the information he needed to get to set Inderjit Singh he gave mr. Dodson the address where satinder should sing live the license plate number to his vehicle and instructed mr. Dodson to watch the 10-digit sing and kill him at the first opportunity what do you do with a gun on June 18th 1997 Dodson received a phone call from Denzil his boss told him that the witness needed to be dead before nightfall densha's brothers hearing was the following day the hit would send a message to everyone who considered testify [Music] dodson said that he and his driver walter jazz Samuels met Benza at one of his gas stations dinza provided them with a white van they watched satin digits house until he came out he was with his cousin [Music] to cause a disturbance so that's a 10-digit would pull over allow the vendor what he did the van blocked it Dodson's shot the unarmed man eight times his description of the events of that day corroborated a neighbors statement to police Datsun also told investigators that after the killing he had returned the white van to James's garage on Roosevelt Avenue I gave the gun back to dinza and paid him and the driver $20,000 for the hit on July 6 1997 when police approached the Brooklyn home of Walter Jazz Sammy's the man who Datsun claimed had driven the van they arrested him without incident police learned that Samuels had a record previous arrests with Samuels in custody investigators turned their attention to Jinzo the US Attorney's Office believed agents and detectives now had enough evidence to indict densa on federal racketeering charges Special Agent in Charge Kevin Donovan recalls the agents dispersed across the city to find evidence FBI agents and New York City Police Department detectives initiated surveillances at several City Gas Corporation gas stations in which dinza Singh was known to frequent at 5:00 p.m. on July 7th 1997 FBI agents and NYPD detectives followed dinza to his foster Avenue gas dues when he arrived they arrested him for murder kidnapping punk fraud and obstruction of justice in aid of a corrupt organization the entire case hinged on the testimony of gingers hitman and Marvin Dotson but because Dodson was a murderer the US attorney still needed to substantiate his story with other evidence or witness testimony [Music] they hope that testimony would come from Walter jazz Samuels the man who Dodson fingered as his accomplice in the murder of Satine digits Inc Samuels now told investigators he was not in the van at the time of the shooting he claimed he was at a nearby restaurant his story checked out investigators believed Samuels knew who drove Dotson on the day of the killing but he wasn't talking and neither was Dodson investigators needed something else to corroborate Dodson's story they secured a search warrant for Dinges Roosevelt Avenue gas station the place where Dodson had returned the white van after the murder regarding a search the entire premises but found little other than stolen license plates they believe they were probably used on getaway cars during the commission of crimes but once again they had no proof they found nothing that could corroborate Dodson story or connect dinza to the murder as the FBI and police continued to pursue evidence dinza was behind bars once again pending a July 14th bail hearing investigators hope danza's incarceration would encourage witnesses to come forward it did not as before dinza continued to rule with an iron hand unfortunately as a result of densa Singh's ability to make telephone calls from jail he was able to continue to run his corporation and his business and to focus on threatening additional individuals who might have come forward to cooperate with the FBI in the New York City Police Department for the second time in three months authorities held the suspected murderer behind bars they hoped it would be his final arrest but the millionaire hired a high-priced defense team and the prosecution's entire case still hinged on the testimony of a confessed killer in July of 1997 a man named Denton had been arrested on federal racketeering charges that included murder and kidnapping to protect his corrupt business and wire it was his second arrest in three months as he had before dinza directed his business and even threatened potential witnesses from a prison telephone but this time investigators were listening assistant US attorney Ben Campbell was not going to let dinza slip through his hands again they had to keep him behind bars first his conversation was in Punjabi which is a very unique dialect and it took us some time before we could find a Punjabi translator to translate those telephone calls secondly he was not very overt in his conversation so he was somewhat cryptic in his conversation with his colleagues the translations opened a rare view into just how tightly dinza held the reins to his empire Enza attracted customers to his rigged pumps by advertising the lowest gas prices in New York but his pumps provided less than a gallon for the price he was issuing routine instructions to the members of his office telling them to change the price of gasoline at his various stations to continue to order supplies for his company in addition he also gave them instructions about things to communicate to their attorneys and steps to be taken in order to try and get him out on bail as Campbell raced to find evidence to keep densa from making bail police process the suspects car they found business cards that linked Ginza to his hit man Marvin Dotson and Dodson's operative Walter jazz Samuels police also recovered a list of names and addresses that appeared to be a hit list the list included the home address of Sajid Singh a federal witness would fled the city with his family Ballwin Singh who was under protective custody had also made the list seven more men with Punjabi names appeared as well it was just what investigators needed to keep dinza from making bail while they did not know whether these men were dead or alive they knew who might agents asked Walter Sam knows about the list hoping it would prompt his memory he finally opened up he said that dinza had planned to kill those nine men two of them ball one since our sheet were federal witnesses the other seven were ball wants family members they were all still alive once again agents would need to corroborate the story confined in the room next door Marvin Dodson and his lawyer waited to be questioned Dodson confirmed samuel story and added something else he said that on July 3rd just days before dents his most recent arrest dinza had purchased two used police cruisers as part of the assassination plan Dodson had copies of the titles which his lawyer now offered to the agent as proof mr. Dennis's plan was for mr. Dodson and mr. Samuels to pose as law enforcement officers and to stop mr. to stop ball one saying on the street along with members of his family and kidnapped them and bring them to mr. dinza at an undisclosed location feeling the pressure and hoping to cut a deal Samuel was now told investigators the name of the man who drove the white van during the murder his name was Evans Alonzo Powell because Powell had no arrest record Dodson wanted to protect him he had threatened Salmons not on July 19 1997 police arrested Powell on a Brooklyn Street he agreed to cooperate Powell admitted that he had driven the van for the murder in Queens investigators finally had their corroborating witness Powell also talked about another crime dinza had ordered the murder of the Indian man who had traveled to America to search for his missing brother Powell was present when Datsun killed the attendant at the Brooklyn gas station on the night of March 16th 1997 detective Tony Brasada remembers Doug's ins confession he admitted of shooting him twice in the head and Neil had him kneeling down and he said he got he got paid by saying for doing this that Singh wanted this person killed he didn't give him a reason but he just wanted him killed Enza had paid Dodson just four thousand dollars for taking the man's life Dotson stole money to pay Powell for being the look Special Agent in Charge Kevin Donovan continued to gather evidence about James's pomp rigging activities the FBI in the New York City Police Department executed a search warrant at the foster Avenue City gas gas station the focus of our search was to identify and obtain evidence of the pump rigging scheme as a result of a the excavation of the area around the pump electronic devices were located in a box that was used to control the pump rigging scheme investigators determined that dinza manipulated the flow of gasoline to customers cars through devices controlled by remote wired to the pumps and buried underground the systems could be turned on or off at will detective Teddy Braun explains that dens had taught many of his employees when to turn them on and off you were taught I had work on remote and what would happen would be if a person looked for instance if a person came in for a gallon of gas forget a lawnmower well what happened was the gas attendant would hit a remote in his pocket which was just like a car alarm remote and what that would do it would shut off the skimming system and the system would go right up to perfect so that when gas it hadn't pumped a gallon worth of gas in in the container it was perfect so there would be no question in late July of 1997 the FBI conducted an exhaustive search of dentists Brooklyn warehouse headquarters there they found his double books we discovered documents reflecting bribery payments to a corrupt Department of Consumer Affairs inspector in addition we also estimate the total value of mr. dances pomp fraud activities in the neighborhood of 40 million dollars over ten years by September of 1998 the body of the man abducted from a gas station in the Box 1990 mysteriously but agents had a hunch based on new york city construction records at the time of his disappearance agents suspected that dinza had buried the attendant underneath one of his gas stations it was determined that the most likely gas station that was under construction at that time was a gas station located at Farragut and Flatbush Avenue on September 16th 1998 investigators arrived at the station with heavy equipment they employed ground-penetrating radar to help locate the body beneath the earth they selected two separate sites where they believe the man might be buried the construction crew removed slabs of concrete and the FBI the New York City Police Department examined these two sites that were located by the ground-penetrating radar investigators never found the man's body though this news was disappointing investigators were having better luck with other leads assistant US attorney Ben Campbell subpoenaed enza's cell phone records they placed dinza at the time and place of sat in digit Singh's murder prosecutors were well armed when Gina's trial began in Brooklyn federal district court they hope to convict him on 29 counts including capital murder [Music] Sajid Singh who assisted the investigation despite death threats testified against the man accused of killing his friends on March 2nd 1999 after two and a half days of deliberations the jury found dinza guilty of 21 of the 29 counts they included murder attempted murder and fraud Enza was acquitted in the kidnapping of the man whose body was never found on october 5th 1999 densey received eight life sentences without possibility of parole he escaped the death penalty later that month the same judge sentenced enza's hitmen for their roles in the murders for assisting in the conviction of dinza their sentences were considerably lighter Powell received ten years Samuels 12 and Dotson 18 but it was the conviction of dinza that was most satisfying to prosecutors prosecution of mr. Denzo was a very sort of personally for me a very rewarding experience we were able to step into a community that frequently does not turn to law enforcement for assistance and to render some significant help to them in order to remove an individual who was mean for lack of a better term a plague on that community like many immigrants before dinza arrived a permit and was embraced by a community of compatriots but he repaid their kindness with swindles in the murder for his greed and brutality he will never be free [Music] [Applause] [Music]

Channel: Real Crime

Views: 856,443

Rating: 4.7286391 out of 5

Keywords: The fbi files deadly business, real crime, crime documentary, true crime, fbi, fbi files, fbi documentary, documentary, crime, crime patrol, true crime daily, unsolved, crime stories, crime documentaries full episodes, full episode, unsolved true crime, fbi files full episodes, we got him, mystery, solved, investigation, police, the fbi files

Id: ASQSoVubULk

Length: 50min 5sec (3005 seconds)

Published: Sat May 09 2020