FBI nabs suspected
fund-raisers in U.S.
Dallas-area arrests said result of investigation into Texas computer firm, Palestinian charity
December 18, 2002
The FBI offers proof it's cracking down on the terror money trail, swooping in on suspected fund-raisers in the Dallas area today and arresting four men with ties to a North Texas computer firm and a Palestinian charity.
Agents arrested four brothers, Ghassan Elashi, Bayan Elashi, Basman Elashi and Hazim Elashi, who worked at Infocom, a computer company based in Richardson, Texas. Ghassan is the vice president of the firm, according to the Associated Press.
A fifth brother is already in jail on charges of illegally exporting computer goods to the Middle East, but sources tell KXAS-TV he will also be named in the indictment.
Officials of Infocom were also leaders of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, reports AP.
Holy Land Foundation was shut down in December after the Treasury department accused the self-described charity of being a Hamas front and seized its assets.
The Council on American-Islamic Relations defended the foundation claiming, "there has been a shift from a war on terrorism to an attack on Islam."
The charges for the Elashi brothers, to be announced this afternoon by Attorney General John Ashcroft in Washington, D.C., accuse the brothers of funneling money to the terrorist group Hamas, blamed in a wave of bombings in Israel.
KLIF radio reports there may be as many as four more arrests made.
A law enforcement source told AP that authorities were seeking a man believed to be an official in Hamas, a Middle Eastern militant group.
The FBI said the arrests stem from a multiyear investigation into Infocom and the charity located across the street.
Former deputy assistant director of the FBI Danny Coulson told Fox News the investigation into Holy Land Foundation dates back to 1994. Coulson said agents involved in the probe were frustrated by Clinton administration roadblocks because the organization was considered a religious organization.
"That all changed after Sept. 11," he said.
Ironically, Infocom was first raided a week before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks against the United States.
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