Bergen County Prosecutor Mark Musella announced the arrest of Joumana M. Danoun, 21, of Paterson on charges of conspiracy to commit kidnapping, witness tampering, and bribery.
The arrest is the result of an investigation conducted by the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office under the direction of Chief Jason Love.
According to Prosecutor Musella, in March 2021, members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office and the Fort Lee Police Department began a joint investigation into a kidnapping and assault that occurred in Fort Lee.
The investigation revealed that Jebara Igbara, who is also known as Jay Manzini, coordinated a plan and conspired with Ishimeer Allen, Alaziz Dalmida, and Rami Aljibawi to kidnap and assault the victim.
According to the investigation, the victim was physically assaulted, threatened with a machete, and whipped with a cord-like object.
According to Prosecutor Musella, Igbara, Allen, Dalmida, and Aljibawi were arrested and charged in March and April 2021 with kidnapping and related offenses.
Prosecutor Musella said that in April 2021, Bassam Aljanadi, who is a family member of Igbara’s wife, Danoun, contacted the victim and the victim’s family on numerous occasions and attempted to convince the victim to drop the kidnapping charges filed against Igbara.
Aljanadi did this in an attempt to obstruct and/or impede the investigation and prosecution of Igbara, Prosecutor Musella said.
On April 27, members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations Squad and Clifton Police Department arrested Aljanadi without incident on charges of witness tampering.
The investigation also revealed that Danoun, conspired with Igbara, Aljabawi, Allen, and Dalmida to kidnap the victim.
According to Prosecutor Musella, on July 14, members of the Bergen County Prosecutor’s Office Special Investigations Squad arrested Danoun on charges of kidnapping and conspiracy to commit kidnapping. On July 22, she was also charged with witness tampering and bribery.
Danoun was charged with first-degree kidnapping, second-degree conspiracy to commit kidnapping, second-degree bribery and third-degree witness tampering.
She was remanded to the Bergen County Jail pending her first appearance in Central Judicial Processing Court in Hackensack.