Fed Raids Expose Somali Wire Transfer
dailynews.yahoo.com
By KAREN GULLO, Associated Press Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) - Raids by federal agents Wednesday disrupted a scheme that has routed tens of millions of dollars to Osama bin Laden (news - web sites)'s network from money that Somalis in the United States sent home to relatives, officials said.
The raids targeted U.S. businesses in suburban Washington, Boston, Columbus, Ohio, Minneapolis and Seattle believed to be part of the Al-Barakaat financial network based in Somalia. Officials said the network had dozens of affiliates in the United States.
``Millions of dollars have moved through these U.S. offices of Al- Barakaat,'' Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill said. ``This organization is now exposed for what it is - a pariah in the civilized world.''
The head of the Al-Barakaat group in Somalia denied his companies were involved in terrorism.
Investigators, however, believe tens of millions of dollars a year flowed through the Al-Barakaat network from Somalis in the United States to their homeland.
As much as 10 percent of the money was funneled off to groups connected to bin Laden, law enforcement officials said. A criminal complaint filed in Boston suggested some of the money leaving the United States first went to the United Arab Emirates in the Middle East.
Officials said half the fees Somalis would pay to send money home would eventually end up in the hands of al-Qaida members. Somali immigrants in the United States were probably unaware of the diversion, they said.
The money was wired in small increments below $10,000 to escape the attention of banking regulators, officials said.
``We have 100,000 Somalians in the United States and it is not an unusual practice of foreign born people residing in United States ... to send money back to their families who are living in very impoverished circumstances to help them out,'' O'Neill said.
``On a superficial basis one could say there is nothing wrong with that until you begin to discover what happened to the remittance process in terms of the skimming and then the diversion of funds to support terrorist activity,'' he said.
The operation was the first for the Treasury Department (news - web sites)'s new Green Quest terrorist tracking unit. ``This is the first of what we expect to be many law enforcement actions,'' Customs Commissioner Robert Bonner said.
FBI (news - web sites), U.S. immigration and Customs agents raided at least two offices in suburban Washington, including one in Alexandria, Va., that housed an Al-Barakaat company operating as AAZM Mortgage.
Authorities in Boston arrested Mohamed M. Hussein and were searching for Liban M. Hussein. Both were charged with running a foreign money transfer business without the required state license.
The two were officers of Barakaat North America Inc., of Dorchester, Mass., a money transfer business that wired hundreds of thousands of dollars overseas, according to an affidavit filed in U.S. District Court in Boston. The company's assets have been frozen.
Sam Osagiede, a lawyer for Mohamed Hussein, denied any connection between the two men and the terrorist networks. Liban Hussein is out of the country, the lawyer said.
``Are they part of this al-Qaida network - the Osama bin Laden terrorist organization? They are not. They are not involved with that,'' Osagiede said.
Barakaat North America was affiliated with Al-Barakaat companies in the United Arab Emirates and Somalia, according to the affidavit, which listed a Raleigh, N.C., man and three men from the United Arab Emirates as officers and directors.
Barakaat received numerous cash and check deposits from people in Massachusetts and other states who wanted money transferred overseas, the affidavit said.
Investigators say Al-Barakaat affiliates used accounts at U.S. banks to maneuver their way through the banking system.
The affidavit says Barakaat North America opened an account at a local bank to receive deposits and facilitate wire transfers.
Bank records showed that over $2 million was moved through an account at Citizens Bank from January through September. ``The account shows a high volume of deposit activity, but the funds quickly leave the account,'' the affidavit said.
The company wired $595,000 in 28 separate transfers to an entity called Al Baraka Exchange in the United Arab Emirates from July through September. Assets of Al Baraka, suspected of having terrorist ties, also were frozen Wednesday.
The wire transfers were routed through Chase Bank in New York and were done over the telephone, according to the affidavit.
Barakaat also opened an account at Key Bank in Portland, Maine, and wired more than $920,000 from the account from April 2000 through last August.
--------------------------------------------------------
U.S. Acts to Freeze Assets of Terror Groups
By DAVID STOUT The New York Times
dailynews.yahoo.com
The Bush administration today added 62 names to the list of suspected associates of terrorists and ordered their assets in the United States frozen.
WASHINGTON, Nov. 7 Moving again to try to shut off the money supply to terrorists, the Bush administration today added 62 names to the list of suspected associates of terrorists and ordered their assets in the United States frozen. The authorities immediately began carrying out raids in the United States and abroad.
Raids were carried out on businesses in the District of Columbia, Boston, Minneapolis, Seattle and Columbus, Ohio, officials told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity. The A.P. said two Arab financiers were also detained in Switzerland by the authorities there.
The 62 names, both individuals and entities, that were released today join about 90 names cited by President Bush on Sept. 23, just 12 days after the terrorist attacks.
At that time, the president ordered an immediate freeze of the assets of the suspected individuals and groups. The move was partly symbolic, but it had teeth behind it, since the Treasury Department was given broad new powers to impose sanctions on banks that did business with those on the list.
As part of today's move, the United States asked overseas allies to freeze the assets of individuals and groups it believes aid Osama bin Laden, the wealthy Saudi exile, and his terrorist organization. The actions abroad were being taken in at least nine countries, the A.P. reported.
President Bush was scheduled to announce the latest action at the Treasury Department later today.
It is sometimes difficult to gauge the importance and effectiveness of actions like that taken today. The authorities sometimes indulge in hyperbole in describing their actions. On the other hand, there is wide agreement that what makes Osama bin Laden so dangerous, in part, is the money he can contribute personally and help raise for terrorist activities.
The latest list includes many similar names containing "Al-Barakaat" or "Barakaat" or "Barakat." They include financial companies, construction companies and telecommunications companies in the United States, Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
In Seattle, more than a dozen customs agents raided a building containing the offices of Barakat Wire Transfer Company and detained one man, The A.P. said. And federal authorities in Columbus, Ohio, sealed off a money-transfer and check-cashing business known as Barakaat Enterprise, which the A.P. said shares a small strip mall with a pizza shop and beauty salon across the street from private homes. |
