A fake limo driver has been sentenced to six years in prison after pleading guilty to kidnapping and robbing women who he picked up from O’Hare Airport, including one he took to McHenry.
Tamer O. Refaie, 34, of Burbank, was charged in McHenry County Circuit Court in November 2024 with intimidation by restraint or confinement, unlawful restraint and theft of property.
McHenry Police Department Public Affairs Officer Ashley O’Herron said Tamer was at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago on September 14, 2024.
Tamer, who was posing as a limo driver, picked up a woman waiting for a taxi, O’Herron said.
O’Herron said Tamer told the woman he was a driver for a “black car service.”
He offered to drive the woman to the Hampton Inn hotel in McHenry in a black BMW and she accepted.
O’Herron said Refaie initially told the woman that he accepted credit cards for the fare but later told her he only took cash.
Refaie ordered the woman to pay him $1,400 while detaining and threatening her in the car, according to a criminal complaint.
He then drove her to a bank ATM to withdraw cash, O’Herron said.
She complied and handed over the money and Tamer dropped her off at the hotel.
Refaie was also charged in Cook County in two separate incidents where he picked up women from O’Hare Airport and demanded extremely high cash fares.
CWBChicago reported Refaie was facing Cook County charges of kidnapping, theft, robbery and unlawful restraint.
Prosecutors said in one of those incidents that a woman who arrived at O’Hare on July 28, 2024, accepted a ride from Refaie.
He drove recklessly and told the woman he would only accept cash for the ride, prosecutors said, according to CWBChicago.
Refaie took her to an ATM in Chicago and ordered her to pay him $500 and a $40 tip, prosecutors said.
“The best way to avoid this from happening to anyone else would be to verify the company that a driver works for, especially if there are no markings on the vehicle, ask for identification/work identification,” O’Herron said.
“The even easier way, would be to try and plan for a ride ahead of time, but when that isn’t an option, use the above mentioned methods to verify person/company of a vehicle that you’re getting into,” she added.
Records show Refaie was being held in custody in the Cook County Jail after having been denied pre-trial release.
He was later transferred to McHenry County Jail in July on the arrest warrant for the McHenry County charges.
Court records show Refaie entered into a negotiated plea deal with the McHenry County State’s Attorney’s Office this week.
He pleaded guilty to one count of intimidation by restraining or confining, a Class 3 felony, in exchange for a four-year sentence in the Illinois Department of Corrections.
McHenry County Judge Mark Gerhardt approved the plea deal and sentenced Refaie on Tuesday.
The sentence will run concurrent to his six-year prison sentence in Cook County where he pleaded guilty to robbery and kidnapping charges.
The sentence will be served at 50% in accordance with truth-in-sentencing guidelines and he will receive 687 days of credit for time already served.