Terrorism in my hometown!

[berkeley]

Originally Posted by [URL="http://www.fresnobee.com/384/v-printerfriendly/story/33710.html"

The Fresno Bee[/URL]]San Joaquin Valley man to stay in jail, could face terror charge
03/06/07 18:56:33

A San Joaquin Valley businessman of Yemeni descent must stay in jail while prosecutors decide whether to charge him with financing a terrorist organization, a federal judge ruled Tuesday.

Abdulla Qassem Ahmed Muthana, 43, a Yemeni national who lives in Corcoran, was indicted last year on four counts of money laundering after undercover officers built a case against him for allegedly laundering unemployment checks through his two grocery stores.

He pleaded not guilty.

Last week, he was arrested after a second sting, in which undercover federal Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents asked him to help them wire funds to Hezbollah, which the U.S. State Department classifies as a terrorist organization.

Muthana allegedly obliged, and sent about $55,000 to a bank account in Bahrain, which was controlled by ICE, according to federal documents. Agents told him they had ties to Hezbollah and would use the money to buy weapons, uniforms and to rebuild schools and bases in Lebanon, the documents said.

"He sent money overseas thinking that it was money for Hezbollah," said Assistant U.S. Attorney Stanley Boone.

Tuesday, U.S. District Court Judge Oliver W. Wanger ruled Muthana was a flight risk, so should remain in custody in the Fresno County Jail.

Muthana could also face additional charges of financing terrorism, unlicensed money transmitting and purchasing contraband cigarettes, according to an affidavit issued in support of a search warrant request for his Ranchito Market stores in Corcoran and rural Tulare County.

His lawyer, Assistant Federal Defender Marc C. Ament, said he could not comment on the details of the case.

The FBI's Fresno office first began investigating Muthana in May 2004.

According to federal grand jury indictment unsealed last week, undercover officers would offer Muthana unemployment checks and tell him they obtained them fraudulently. Muthana would give the agents cash for the checks, which he deposited into his business bank account, keeping nearly $17,000 as a commission, the indictment said.

Between September 2005 and January 2006, Muthana received 324 state Unemployment Development Department checks with a face value of more than $209,000, according to the affidavit.

The second sting operation began after the FBI's Buffalo, N.Y. office told officials in California Muthana had been identified in a local case as someone who "could move $100,000 overseas without problems," federal documents said.

Undercover federal agents met with Muthana twice at Fresno's Piccadilly Inn Airport Hotel, where he pledged to wire transfer money to the bank account in Bahrain.

After the first meeting in November, Muthana wired about $55,000 to the account and kept $5,000 as his cut. Last month, the agents gave him an additional $80,000 to transfer overseas, the affidavit states.

His next scheduled court appearance is March 19, Boone said.

Originally Posted by [URL="http://www.fresnobee.com/263/v-printerfriendly/story/33549.html"

The Fresno Bee[/URL]]
Valley man may face terror charges
Owner of two minimarts arrested after FBI investigation.
By John Ellis / The Fresno Bee
03/06/07 03:59:29

A Corcoran minimart owner and Yemeni national who was indicted in September for money laundering faces the possibility of several new charges, including financing Middle Eastern terrorists.

Abdulla Qassem Ahmed Muthana, 43, had been under investigation by the FBI's Fresno office since May 2004.

In September, however, authorities received a tip from the FBI's Buffalo, N.Y., office that Muthana had been identified in a case there as a person who "could move $100,000 overseas without problems," according to federal documents.

A sting operation was set up in which federal Customs and Immigration Enforcement agents told Muthana they needed help funneling money to the Hezbollah militia in Lebanon.

In 1997, the State Department designated Hezbollah as a foreign terrorist organization.

Details on the case are sketchy, and both prosecutor Stanley Boone and Muthana's attorney, Assistant Federal Defender Marc C. Ament, declined to comment.

But some details are contained in a 31-page affidavit in support of a Feb. 24 search warrant request for Muthana's two minimarts, one in Corcoran and the other in rural Tulare County east of Corcoran.

By last September, according to the warrant request, authorities had used undercover agents and confidential witnesses to build a case against Muthana for laundering fraudulent unemployment checks and purchasing contraband cigarettes.

Muthana was indicted in September by a federal grand jury in Fresno, charged with four counts of money laundering. Shortly afterward, the indictment was sealed.

In the indictment, unsealed last week, authorities allege Muthana took unemployment checks given to him as part of an undercover operation. Before taking the checks, he was told they were obtained through fraudulent means.

Between September 2005 and January 2006, the search warrant affidavit said, Muthana received 324 state Unemployment Development Department checks with a face value of more than $209,000.

Muthana then allegedly exchanged cash for the checks, keeping close to $17,000 as a commission. He then cashed the checks through a series of deposits into the business account for his businesses, both named Ranchito Market.

Muthana was not arrested.

Around the same time, local authorities received the tip from Buffalo FBI agents, and began a new sting operation against Muthana.

In that sting, Muthana twice met with undercover federal agents at the Piccadilly Inn Airport Hotel in Fresno, where he agreed to help in the wire transfer of money to a bank account in Bahrain, which was secretly controlled by ICE.

Both times, the affidavit states, agents told Muthana they had ties to Hezbollah and the money was to be used to purchase weapons, uniforms and to rebuild schools and bases.

After the first meeting, Muthana moved close to $55,000 to Bahrain, keeping $5,000 for his fee. Last month, Muthana was given an additional $80,000 to transfer overseas.

It was only last week that Muthana was taken into custody. He has pleaded not guilty and is being held in the Fresno County Jail.

Though Muthana is only charged with four counts of money laundering at this time, the search warrant affidavit lists other possible charges, including financing terrorism, unlicensed money transmitting and purchasing contraband cigarettes.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Dennis L. Beck will hold a hearing today on Muthana's status, where his supporters are expected to seek his release on bail.

[Arphaxad]

He wont have to travel far when they convict him.

"purchasing contraband cigarettes." He'll probably get the most time for this charge!



ARPH