The Money Trail #261 The Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) Weekly Report – 12 November 2010 Subscriptions, feedback & suggestions: [email protected] *PDF attachment available from [email protected]

US designations, “material support,” general security policy, civil litigation 1. US blocks Iran’s bid for a UN board seat; Panel expected to push Obama on Iran sanctions 2. N. Korea linked to covert missile, nuke trade 3. Former CIA officer pleads guilty to conspiracy to act as Russian agent & to money laundering; Russian turned in spy ring to U.S. this past summer 4. Security fears kill Chinese bid in U.S. 5. Newly discovered warnings about Headley reveal a troubling timeline in Mumbai case 6. Minnesota man pleads not guilty in St. Louis in Somali terror group funding case 7. Bail denied for San Diego men accused of helping Somali terror group 8. Chiquita pays to settle suit over terror groups 9. U.S. unveils new security steps after thwarted terrorist plot; Shippers fought full screening of cargo planes; Air Canada targets Yemeni passengers 10. Inside the Ring: Financial intel killed; Tehran-Taliban links 11. Federal judges in Norfolk wrestle over definition of piracy 12. U.S. revises offer to take Sudan off terror list 13. Wife of terrorist Zachary Chesser pleads guilty; will have to leave U.S. 14. Judge issues TRO blocking Oklahoma Shariah ban 15. Overseas mosque makeovers with US tax dollars

Internet, bribery, fraud 16. Toronto extremist, Salman an-Noor Hossain, added to Interpol's list of fugitives 17. 17 charged in New York in $42.5M fraud on Holocaust reparation fund

Hawala, financial services, identity theft, money laundering 18. Arab Bank appeals disclosure ruling in terror finance case

Charities, non-profits 19. Judge rules gov’t should not have publicly released HLF unindicted co-conspirators list, but denies request to remove them from the list

Border security, immigration & customs 20. Feds break up human trafficking ring in Minnesota, Tennessee; 29 Somali immigrants named 21. Tunnel on Mexican border highlights fears of smuggling by terrorists

Other criminal activity 22. Owner can sue U.S. under FTCA over seized goods 23. Authorities see growth spurt in theft of infant formula 24. Kingston NY authorities crack food stamp fraud, money laundering operation

International 25. Pakistan Army, law enforcement need strategy to throttle the financial bloodline of terrorists 26. Indonesian cleric gets 10 years for funding terror; U.S. worries about upswing in terrorism; Agency to deal with extremism at universities; Indonesian physician stands trial on terror finance

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27. FBI: al-Qaida's Yemen group not behind Dubai crash 28. Republic of Georgia details nuclear smuggling 29. Israel police chief: Terrorism, criminal activity overlapping 30. Germany considers blacklist for airports with lax cargo security 31. Top UK charities give £200,000 to group which supported al-Qaeda cleric, al-Awlaki 32. Islam Channel breaks British broadcast rules, regulator says 33. Radical British imam wanted in the US wins citizenship appeal

Derived from The Investigative Project on Terrorism Daily Update, The Money Trail is a weekly bundled group of excerpted open sources designed for use by law enforcement, the intelligence community and policy makers for non-profit research and educational use only. Quoted material is subject to the copyright protections of the original sources which should be cited for attribution.

THE AMERICAS:

US designations, “material support,” general security policy, civil litigation

1. U.S. Blocks Iran’s Bid for a U.N. Board Seat By NEIL MacFARQUHAR New York Times November 11, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/11/world/11nations.html UNITED NATIONS — The United States orchestrated the defeat of Iran’s push to gain a seat Wednesday on the board of the new United Nations organization dedicated to gender equality around the world, in keeping with the broader American strategy to isolate Iran. The United States organized a global diplomatic effort to block Iran from the board, with its ambassadors approaching dozens of foreign ministries to argue that the Islamic republic’s human rights record would send the wrong message about the new body. The American ambassador, Susan E. Rice, not known for glad-handing around the United Nations, was working the room before the vote, shaking hands...

Panel expected to push Obama on Iran sanctions By Shaun Waterman The Washington Times 8:30 p.m., Thursday, November 11, 2010 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/11/panel-expected-to-push-obama-on-iran-sanctions/ Republicans on the House Foreign Affairs Committee, who will wield the gavel because of their victory in last week's elections, will seek to hold the Obama administration's feet to the fire on the implementation of sanctions against Iran, undercutting the president's diplomatic efforts to stifle Tehran's nuclear ambitions. An aide to Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen of , the Republican in line to chair the committee, said she would not comment ahead of the announcement about committee chairmanships expected later this month from the Republican leadership. "She wants to respect the process," the aide said. Yet congressional staff, think-tank scholars and lobbyists who deal with the committee told The Washington Times that they expect Mrs. Ros-Lehtinen to take what one Republican House staffer called a "very forceful approach" to oversight and legislation — especially on a handful of issues related to Iran, North Korea, Cuba, Venezuela, Russia and China…

2. N. Korea linked to covert missile, nuke trade By Bill Gertz The Washington Times 8:29 p.m., Wednesday, November 10, 2010 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/10/n-korea-linked-to-covert-missile-nuke-trade/ A report by the U.N. Security Council made public Wednesday states that North Korea is linked to covert shipments of banned nuclear technology and missiles to Iran, Syria and Burma. A panel of experts produced the report after monitoring compliance with U.N. sanctions imposed on Pyongyang after its nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009. Based on International Atomic Energy Agency and government assessments, the report concludes that North Korea "has continued to provide missiles, components, and technology to certain countries including Iran and Syria since the imposition of these measures." In Burma, suspicious nuclear activities were linked to North Korea's Namchongang Trading and the arrests in Japan of three people who tried to illegally export a magnetometer to Burma through Malaysia…

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3. Imprisoned Spy Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy to Act as an Agent of the Russian Government and Money Laundering Department of Justice Office of Public Affairs Monday, November 8, 2010 http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/November/10-nsd-1261.html WASHINGTON - Harold James Nicholson, 59, appeared before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown and pleaded guilty to the crimes of conspiracy to act as an agent of a foreign government and conspiracy to commit international money laundering… Harold J. Nicholson, a former CIA employee, is serving a 283- month sentence at the Federal Correctional Institution (FCI) in Sheridan, Ore., for a 1997 conviction of conspiracy to commit espionage. At the plea hearing, Harold J. Nicholson admitted that from 2006 to December 2008, with the assistance of his son Nathaniel, he acted on behalf of the Russian Federation, passed information to the Russian Federation, and received cash proceeds for his past espionage activities…

Former CIA officer from Oregon pleads guilty to betraying his country for a second time Published: Monday, November 08, 2010, 5:41 PM Updated: Tuesday, November 09, 2010, 6:20 AM Bryan Denson, http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2010/11/former_cia_agent_from_oregon_p.html For the second time in his life, former CIA officer Jim Nicholson has pleaded guilty to illicit dealings with Russian intelligence officers -- this time from behind bars. The 59-year-old former spy stood before U.S. District Judge Anna J. Brown on Monday in Portland and acknowledged that he conspired with his son to act as an agent of the Russian Federation and conceal the foreign government's payments to them while serving a prison term in Oregon for espionage... The plea made Nicholson -- a native Oregonian, former Army captain and 16-year veteran of the Central Intelligence Agency -- the first CIA officer convicted twice of betraying his country...

Russian turned in spies to U.S. Legislator verifies swap By Jim Heintz Updated: 6:40 p.m. on Thursday, November 11, 2010 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/11/legislator-russian-officer-turned-spies-us/ MOSCOW | A Russian legislator specializing in national security on Thursday confirmed a newspaper report that a top intelligence official helped the United States arrest 10 Russian spies this summer. The spies were arrested in June, several days after a U.S. visit by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev. They were exchanged for four Russians who had been convicted of espionage in their own country. It was the largest spy swap between the countries since the end of the Cold War. The respected daily Kommersant cited unidentified sources as identifying the Russian official only as Col. Shcherbakov, who it said headed the American section of a Foreign Intelligence Service division specializing in sleeper agents. Gennady Gudkov, a member of the Russian parliament's national security committee, later said, "Shcherbakov turned over our agents in the U.S.A. … I knew of this long before the publication today in Kommersant." Mr. Gudkov could not be reached for elaboration, including how he knew of Col. Shcherbakov's purported involvement. His quotes, originally reported by the Interfax news agency, were confirmed by his office...

4. Security Fears Kill Chinese Bid in U.S. By JOANN S. LUBLIN and SHAYNDI RAICE NOVEMBER 5, 2010.Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704353504575596611547810220.html Sprint Nextel Corp. is excluding Chinese telecommunications-equipment makers Huawei Technologies Ltd. and ZTE Corp. from a contract worth billions of dollars largely because of national security concerns in Washington, according to people familiar with the matter. The Defense Department and some U.S. lawmakers have been increasingly concerned about the two companies' ties to the Chinese government and military, and the security implications of letting their equipment into critical U.S. infrastructure. Some officials argue China's military could use Huawei or ZTE equipment to disrupt or intercept American communications. The Obama administration has also weighed in on the matter. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke called Sprint Chief Executive Dan Hesse this week to discuss concerns about awarding the work to a Chinese firm, but didn't ask Sprint to exclude the Chinese suppliers, according to an administration official familiar with the conversation. Mr. Hesse declined to comment…

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5. Newly Discovered Warnings About Headley Reveal a Troubling Timeline in Mumbai Case by Sebastian Rotella ProPublica, Nov. 5, 2010, 7:49 p.m. http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7185 A version of this story was co-published with [1] http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/05/AR2010110506271.html A review of the U.S. government's contacts with David Coleman Headley, a central figure in the 2008 attacks on Mumbai, has identified at least five separate cases in which relatives or associates warned he was training or working with Pakistani militants. The review, which is being led by the Director of National Intelligence, found that plausible allegations about Headley's extremist ties began as early as 2001 and were more numerous and specific than previously disclosed, federal officials said. They described to ProPublica the results of internal inquiries being conducted by the FBI, CIA, and other agencies for the intelligence director, whose office declined to comment… But the handling of the Headley case suggests that flawed information-sharing, an overwhelming flow of raw intelligence and a lack of focus on Lashkar kept U.S. investigators from identifying an American terrorist... The review is expected to address another unanswered question: whether Headley's work as a U.S. informant affected the investigations of him. Headley began spying on Pakistani drug traffickers for the DEA in the late 1990s and was still an informant when he began training with Lashkar in 2002, according to officials. Some say the DEA cut its ties with him between 2003 and 2005; others simply say his work ended "well before" Mumbai…

6. Man pleads not guilty in terror group funding case Published November 09, 2010 Associated Press http://www.foxnews.com/us/2010/11/09/man-pleads-guilty-terror-group-funding-case/ IPT NOTE: Court documents are posted at http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/499 ST. LOUIS – A Minnesotan says he's not guilty of plotting to send money to a terrorist group in Somalia that the U.S. says has ties to al-Qaida. Thirty-five-year-old Abdi Mahdi Hussein of Minneapolis entered the plea Monday in U.S. District Court in St. Louis, where he was indicted last month with St. Louis taxi driver Mohamud Abdi Yusuf and another man. Hussein remains free on his own recognizance. The government contends that Yusuf and Hussein sent money by wire transfer to al-Shabab supporters in Somalia between 2008 and at least July 2009. Hussein, who is also of Somali descent, is charged with one count of conspiracy to structure monetary transactions. Yusuf also faces that count, as well as providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization

Somali here accused of sending money to terrorists back home BY TIM O'NEIL • St Louis Post-Dispatch Thursday, November 4, 2010 12:20 am http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7184 ST. LOUIS • A Somalian refugee in St. Louis who worked as an airport taxicab driver has been accused of funneling money back home to a terrorist organization. The indictment against Mohamud Abdi Yusuf, 30, says he used code words in conversation and other tricks to try to avoid detection. The indictment against Yusuf and two fellow defendants — one in Minneapolis and one at large — accuses him of collecting and transferring almost $6,000 to contacts for al-Shabaab, an Islamist group that is fighting to overthrow the shaky government of Somalia, an impoverished eastern African nation…

7. Bail denied for men accused of helping terrorists By Greg Moran San Diego Union-Tribune Tuesday, November 9, 2010 at 7:35 p.m. http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/2010/nov/09/men-accused-helping-somali-terrorists-remain-jaile/ IPT NOTE: Court documents are posted at http://www.investigativeproject.org/case/498 SAN DIEGO — Two men charged with aiding a Somali terrorist group by raising money in San Diego and sending it to fighters in their war-torn African country will remain in federal jail, a judge decided Tuesday. One of the men, Issa Doreh, 54, likened the jail conditions to ―torture,‖ saying at a federal court hearing that his cell is frigid and the food doesn’t meet his special dietary needs. Mohamed Mohamed Mohamud, 38, waived his right to a hearing on the government’s request to detain him in custody without bail. Prosecutors said he might flee and is a potential danger to the community. His lawyer told Magistrate Judge William V. Gallo that Mohamud, an imam at a City Heights mosque, is reserving the right to return to court later with a proposal that would set conditions for his release on bond…

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8. Chiquita pays to settle suit over terror groups By James Pilcher November 5, 2010 Cincinnati Enquirer http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7192 A federal court has approved a payment of up to $4 million by downtown-based Chiquita Brands International, Inc. to help settle outstanding shareholder lawsuits stemming from the company's involvement with known Central American terrorist groups. In addition, the company's board has agreed to pass a resolution that it does not authorize "illegal payments to terrorist organizations" and "bribes to foreign officials" as part of the settlement. Chiquita acknowledged payments to the Columbian groups to the Department of Justice and settled in 2007 and agreed to pay a $25 million fine. The moves were disclosed in the company's quarterly earnings report with the Securities and Exchange Commission filed earlier this week…

9. U.S. Unveils New Security Steps After Thwarted Terrorist Plot By JOSH MITCHELL Wall Street Journal NOVEMBER 8, 2010, 3:15 P.M. ET http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703514904575602733964102798.html WASHINGTON—The Obama administration took new steps Monday to boost airline security in the wake of a recent thwarted terrorist plot, including new restrictions on shipments bound for the U.S. The U.S. will continue to ban air shipments from Yemen and will begin banning air cargo from Somalia, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano said in a statement. The U.S. will also ban "high-risk cargo" on passenger flights, she said. Toner and ink cartridges weighing more than 16 ounces will be prohibited on passenger aircraft in carry-on and checked baggage on both domestic and international flights, Napolitano said. "Further, all cargo identified as high risk will go through additional and enhanced screening," she said...

Shippers fought full screening of cargo planes By Sharon Theimer Associated Press 6:27 a.m., Tuesday, November 9, 2010 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/9/shippers-fought-full-screening-cargo-planes/ WASHINGTON (AP) — Despite knowing for decades that terrorists could sneak bombs onto planes, the U.S. government failed to close obvious security gaps amid pressure from shipping companies fearful tighter controls would cost too much and delay deliveries. Intelligence officials around the world narrowly thwarted an al Qaeda mail bomb plot last month, intercepting two explosive packages shipped from Yemen with UPS and FedEx. But it was a tip from Saudi intelligence, not cargo screening, that turned up the bombs before they could take down airplanes. Company employees in Yemen were not required to X- ray the printer cartridges the explosives were hidden inside. Instead, they looked at the printers and sent them off, U.S. officials said. The scare is prompting officials in Washington and around the world to rethink air cargo security. Lobbying by the multibillion-dollar freight industry has helped kill past efforts to impose tough rules…

Somalia's al-Shabaab 'youth movement' becoming 'strongest Al Qaeda force we have on the planet' BY James Gordon Meek WASHINGTON BUREAU Tuesday, November 9th 2010, 4:00 AM http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7186 WASHINGTON - The Obama administration put Somali shipments on the no-fly list Monday, declaring the war-torn country's militants a direct threat to the U.S. homeland… Somalia's increasingly influential al- Shabaab "youth movement" is causing new jitters for U.S. terrorism fighters. The group, boasting alliances to AQAP in Yemen and Osama Bin Laden's Pakistani-based terror network, has up to 3,000 fighters - and a batch of American recruits. There have been several prosecutions in federal courts since last year of wanna-be Shabaab jihadis, including Betim Kaziu, a U.S. citizen from Brooklyn charged with trying to join up. "If you make the assumption that the thousands of Shabaab adhere to the same ideology as their leadership, then that's the strongest Al Qaeda force we have on the planet," a defense official told the Daily News...

Air Canada targets Yemeni passengers Last Updated: Friday, November 5, 2010 | 10:08 PM ET CBC News http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2010/11/05/air-canada-yemen.html

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Air Canada has ordered its staff to subject anyone connected to Yemen to undergo extra security checks after the discovery last week of two packages containing explosives that originated from the country. A memo, circulated at several major Canadian airports, directs Air Canada staff to take aside any passenger who was born or is a resident in Yemen, is travelling to or transiting through Yemen, or has started a trip in the country. The passenger, who will already have gone through normal security, will be taken to a so-called sterile area for a second and more thorough search. The memo also says that the flight should not be delayed to allow a customer to be screened, but instead, the customer should be rebooked on the next available flight. A spokesman for Air Canada told CBC News he couldn't comment on the policy, because it's a security matter… Ihsaan Gardee, executive director of CAIR-CAN, Canada's largest Muslim lobby, said this is blatant racial profiling…

10. Inside the Ring By Bill Gertz The Washington Times 8:28 p.m., Wednesday, November 10, 2010 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/10/inside-the-ring-716343977/ Financial intel killed The Pentagon's intelligence directorate is killing off one of its most strategically important mission areas: monitoring efforts by foreign governments to buy U.S. firms and technology, such as the multiple efforts by China's military-linked equipment company Huawei Technologies to buy into the U.S. high-technology sector. Defense officials tell Inside the Ring that Thomas A. Ferguson, acting undersecretary of defense for intelligence (USDI) and a former Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA) space analyst, initiated the dismantling of the financial-threat intelligence monitoring…

Tehran-Taliban links U.S. military and intelligence agencies are worried that Iran will increase its support for the Taliban by providing shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles to the Islamist insurgents. "We do know that the Iranians … are interested in introducing some anti-aircraft weapons in Afghanistan, but we have yet to see it play itself out on the battlefield," said a U.S. official familiar with intelligence reports. "But we are concerned that it may in fact be a motivation of Iran to do so."..

11. Federal judges in Norfolk wrestle over definition of piracy By Tim McGlone The Virginian-Pilot© November 8, 2010 http://hamptonroads.com/2010/11/federal-courts-norfolk-wrestle-over-definition-piracy NORFOLK - For the first time since the 19th century, piracy suspects will go on trial in a federal court in a case that legal experts see as precedent-setting. Already there are conflicting rulings in the cases against two groups of Somali nationals charged with attacking Navy ships off the Horn of Africa earlier this year. But only one group is now going to trial. Jury selection in that case begins Tuesday in U.S. District Court. The other group must wait for a decision by the federal appeals court or, ultimately, the U.S. Supreme Court. U.S. District Judge Mark S. Davis last month upheld piracy and related charges in a 14-count indictment against the five Somalis charged in the April 1 attack on the Nicholas, a Norfolk- based frigate. Davis' conclusion was opposite the one reached by Judge Raymond A. Jackson, sitting two floors below Davis in the same courthouse, in August in a case involving the April 10 attack on the Ashland, based at Joint Expeditionary Base Little Creek...

12. U.S. Revises Offer to Take Sudan Off Terror List By MARK LANDLER New York Times November 8, 2010 http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/08/world/africa/08sudan.html WASHINGTON — President Obama has told Sudan that if it allows a politically sensitive referendum to go ahead in January, and abides by the results, the United States will move to take the country off its list of state sponsors of terrorism as early as next July, administration officials said Sunday. The offer, conveyed to the Sudanese authorities over the weekend by Senator John Kerry, the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations committee, represents a significant sweetening of the package of incentives the administration offered to Sudan in September for its cooperation with the vote. Under a peace agreement that ended years of civil war in Sudan, the government in Khartoum agreed to a referendum, now scheduled for Jan. 9, in which the people of southern Sudan will decide whether to secede from the north. They are expected to vote overwhelmingly to do so. But as the date for the vote nears, there are persistent reports of foot-dragging by the Sudanese authorities in preparing for it, as well as fears of a

6 new outbreak of violence if the north does not honor the results. Dividing Sudan is hugely complicated, since most of its oil fields lie in the south…

13. Wife of terrorism convict pleads guilty; will have to leave U.S. From Carol Cratty, CNN November 8, 2010 http://www.cnn.com/2010/CRIME/11/08/us.guilty.plea IPT NOTE: The gov’t press release is posted at http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/wfo110810b.htm Alexandria, Virginia (CNN) -- The Ugandan wife of an American-born man who pleaded guilty to providing material support to terrorists entered her own guilty plea on Monday. Proscovia Kampire Nzabanita, dressed head-to-toe in conservative Muslim dress with her face covered, pleaded guilty to making a false statement when questioned by a federal investigator about her husband, Zachary Chesser. Chesser, 20, was accused of posting an online attack against the creators of the animated TV series "South Park" due to the program's depiction of the Prophet Mohammed. On October 20, Chesser agreed to plead guilty to the terrorist support charge, as well as charges of communicating threats and soliciting crimes of violence. He will be sentenced in January, and is expected to receive a sentence of at least 20 years in prison. As part of Chesser's plea agreement, federal authorities agreed not to seek charges of aiding and abetting against Nzabanita, 26, who faces sentencing on January 28 for her guilty plea Monday…

Wife of Zachary Chesser Pleads Guilty to Making False Statement Department of Justice Press Release November 8, 2010 US Attorney's Office, Eastern District of Virginia http://washingtondc.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/wfo110810b.htm ALEXANDRIA, VA—Proscovia Kampire Nzabanita, 26, of Bristow, Virgnia, pleaded guilty today to making a false statement to a special agent investigating her husband, Zachary Chesser, and his attempt to travel to Somalia to join the terrorist group known as al Shabaab…

14. Oklahoma Shariah Ban Is Blocked By JESS BRAVIN NOVEMBER 9, 2010 Wall Street Journal http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703957804575602922807855194.html? A federal judge blocked Oklahoma officials Monday from implementing a voter-approved referendum that singles out Islamic religious law, or Shariah, as a threat to the state. Chief Judge Vicki Miles-LaGrange, of U.S. District Court in Oklahoma City, set a Nov. 22 hearing to consider whether the Save Our State Amendment violates the U.S. Constitution. Until then, she issued a temporary restraining order preventing the state Election Board from certifying State Question 755, which passed by 70% on Nov. 2. The measure directs state courts to ignore "legal precepts of other nations or cultures" and specifically forbids consideration of "international law or Sharia Law." A Muslim activist in Oklahoma City, Muneer Awad, filed suit last week, alleging the measure violated the First Amendment, which forbids government from promoting an "establishment of religion" or interfering with "free exercise" of religion. The measure "would enshrine disapproval of Islam in the state constitution," said Mr. Awad, 27 years old, in an interview. He is executive director of the Oklahoma chapter of the Council on American-Islamic Relations. In addition, he said, the provision could invalidate his will, which refers to Islamic teachings on the distribution of property...

15. Mosque Makeovers With Your Tax Dollars Posted: 3:57 pm EST November 11, 2010 Updated: 6:13 pm EST November 11, 2010 http://www.wsbtv.com/news/25762604/detail.html WASHINGTON, D.C -- A Channel 2 Action News investigation found that the State Department is sending millions of dollars to save mosques overseas. This investment has received criticism as the United States makes an effort to slash nearly $4 trillion in government spending. Plenty of outrage following the announcement made Thursday afternoon by a government commission that suggested huge cuts to the budget, including eliminating the interest education for home mortgage. This juxtaposed with United States investing millions to refurbish mosques as a good-will effort in Muslim countries has upset many taxpayer groups. The Channel 2 Action News investigation found a 1,300-year-old Egyptian mosque that was almost flooded by contaminated sewer water that is one of many ancient Cairo mosques and churches that were saved from destruction by the U.S. taxpayers. This is part of a $770 million program to rebuild Cairo's sewer system, paid for by the U.S. State Department's USAID program.

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Internet, bribery, fraud

16. Toronto extremist added to Interpol's list of fugitives By Stewart Bell, National Post November 9, 2010 12:04 PM http://www.canada.com/news/Toronto+extremist+added+Interpol+list+fugitives/3800679/story.html TORONTO — Interpol has issued a wanted notice for a young Toronto extremist who sparked outrage when he urged terrorists to attack Canada and to carry out a genocide of the country's Jewish population. Salman an-Noor Hossain, 25, a Bangladeshi-Canadian, was added to the international police organization's database of fugitives at the request of Ontario Provincial Police. Last July, police charged Hossain with two counts of advocating a genocide and three counts of promoting hatred but he left the country before the investigation was completed and has not yet been arrested. "The OPP and the OPP Hate Crimes Unit are still actively seeking Mr. Hossain," said Insp. Dave Ross, an OPP spokesman… Born in Bangladesh, and apparently raised in Ghana before immigrating to Canada with his parents, Hossain was studying at the University of Toronto in Mississauga, Ont., when counter-terrorism police grew concerned about his Internet posts, which called for terrorist attacks in Canada, cheered the killing of Canadian troops in Afghanistan and urged the genocide of Canada's Jews…

17. U.S. Attorney Charges 17 People with Participating in $42.5 Million Fraud on Organization That Makes Reparations to Victims of Nazi Persecution Six Corrupt Insiders Allegedly Processed Thousands of Fraudulent Applications for Payments Meant for Actual Victims of the Holocaust Dep’t of Justice Press Release November 9, 2010 US Attorney's Office, Southern District of New York http://newyork.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel10/nyfo110910.htm , the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JANICE K. FEDARCYK, the Assistant Director-In-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), announced today the unsealing of criminal charges against 17 alleged members of a long-running scheme that defrauded programs established to aid survivors of Nazi persecution out of more than $42 million. Employees of the Conference on Jewish Material Claims Against Germany (the "Claims Conference"), which administered the programs, were supposed to process and approve legitimate applications. Instead, they allegedly approved over 5,500 fraudulent applications, resulting in payouts to applicants who did not qualify for the programs. In exchange, these insiders kept a portion of the money for themselves and their coconspirators… Defendants in U.S. v. Semen Domnitser, et al…

Hawala, financial services, identity theft, money laundering, counterfeiting

18. Bank Appeals Disclosure Ruling in Terror Finance Case By THOMAS CATAN Wall Street Journal NOVEMBER 5, 2010 http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704805204575594843839982622.html WASHINGTON—A major Middle Eastern bank launched a final effort Thursday to avoid legal sanctions punishing it for not disclosing client records in a terror-finance case that could have repercussions for other international banks. Citing bank-secrecy laws in several countries where it operates, Jordan-based Arab Bank PLC has defied U.S. federal court orders to turn over documents sought by American victims of terrorist attacks and their families in a long-running private case related to Palestinian terror attacks in Israel. The plaintiffs say the bank enabled the attacks by acting as a conduit for money from Saudi donors that went to families of suicide bombers and terror groups, a charge the bank denies. The suit, which was filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of New York in Brooklyn in 2004, alleges that Arab Bank financed Palestinian terrorism by, among other things, paying a "comprehensive insurance benefit" of around $5,300 to families of suicide bombers on behalf of the Saudi Committee, a government-run charity. The suit also alleges that the bank knowingly provided banking services to groups such as Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, which are both considered terrorist groups by the U.S. In an unusual legal move, Arab Bank on Thursday asked an appeals court in New York to intervene to overturn harsh sanctions imposed by the federal court after the bank declined to turn over customer records...

Charities, non-profits

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19. Judge ruled prosecutors should not have publicly released Holy Land unindicted co- conspirators list 12:00 AM CDT on Sunday, November 7, 2010 By JASON TRAHAN The Dallas Morning News http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7191 One of the most widely circulated documents from Dallas' Holy Land Foundation terrorism financing case should never have been released publicly and violated the Fifth Amendment due process rights of a prominent Islamic organization, according to a federal judge's ruling recently ordered unsealed by an appeals court. The finding by U.S. District Judge Jorge Solis is a bittersweet victory for the North American Islamic Trust… Despite the Fifth Amendment violation, Solis denied NAIT's request to have its name taken off the government's list, finding "ample evidence" linking it to Holy Land... "There's no question that prosecutors were in the wrong to file the co-conspirator list publicly," said Andrew C. McCarthy, the former New York federal prosecutor in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing case. That case's unindicted co-conspirator list, which was sealed but eventually leaked, included one of the first public mentions of Osama bin Laden… But McCarthy, author of The Grand Jihad: How Islam and the Left Sabotage America, disagrees that the Holy Land prosecutors' mistake amounts to a constitutional violation. "The harm is not great, because there was a public trial in which it was shown that these guys were unindicted co-conspirators," said McCarthy, whose book is based in part on the Holy Land story. "The proof would have come out anyway."… "It was never about the list," McCarthy wrote in a recent National Review column about the Holy Land co-conspirator controversy. "It was about what the evidence unmistakably tells us. ... That bell can't be unrung." …

Border security, immigration & customs

IPT NOTE: For more details, see US Customs and Border Protection releases at http://www.cbp.gov/xp/cgov/newsroom/news_releases/ ; US Immigration and Customs Enforcement http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2754, and Canada Border Services Agency http://www.cbsa- asfc.gc.ca/menu-eng.html

20. 29 charged with sex trafficking The defendants, most local, are accused of selling Somali girls into prostitution, and of fraud. By JAMES WALSH, DAVID CHANEN and ALLIE SHAH, Minneapolis Star Tribune November 8, 2010 http://www.startribune.com/local/106890463.html The Somali gang members, with nicknames like "Fatboy," "Forehead" and "Pinky," passed the girls around like chattel for sex with other gang members or with paying customers… Twenty-nine people, mostly from the Twin Cities, are accused of running an interstate human trafficking ring that sold Somali girls -- one as young as 12 -- into prostitution. In a federal indictment made public in Nashville on Monday, officials accused gang members of running a decade-long prostitution business that included credit card fraud and burglary totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars. Their alleged crimes crossed state lines, as investigators say girls were driven from the Twin Cities to Nashville and Columbus, Ohio. Another victim was allegedly sexually assaulted in Seattle…

Raids alarm Minnesota Somalis; some see denial of issue By ALLIE SHAH, Minneapolis Star Tribune Last update: November 8, 2010 - 9:57 PM http://www.startribune.com/local/106934328.html

Somali gangs in Minneapolis accused of running sex-traffic ring By Hart Van Denburg, Mon., Nov. 8 2010 @ 1:16PM http://blogs.citypages.com/blotter/2010/11/somali_gang_in.php …Here are the names of those arrested:…

29 suspected Somali gang members indicted in sex-trafficking ring that included Nashville By Brian Haas • The Tennessean • November 8, 2010 http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7193 … The indictment targets three groups that the U.S. Attorney’s Office has identified as Somali gangs: the Somali Outlaws, the Somali Mafia and the Lady Outlaws… 9

21. Tunnel on Mexican border highlights fears of smuggling by terrorists By: Sara A. Carter National Security Correspondent November 8, 2010 The Washington Examiner http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7194 The discovery of a sophisticated tunneling system on the U.S.-Mexican border has caused intelligence and law enforcement agencies in the Southwest to increase their alert status. The concern for security officials is twofold: They are trying to avoid a spillover of the spiraling drug violence in Mexico that has been characterized by beheadings and shootouts. At the same time authorities tell The Washington Examiner that Islamic extremist groups are eyeing the porous border as the easiest way to smuggle terrorists into the country. "Our number one concern is national security," said a senior law enforcement official with direct knowledge of the 1,800 foot tunnel discovered in California. "The vulnerability created by the tunnel being used by terrorist organizations is there."…

Other criminal activity

22. Owner can sue U.S. over seized goods by David Ziemer Published: November 9th, 2010 Wisconsin Law Journal http://wislawjournal.com/blog/2010/11/09/owner-can-sue-us-over-seized-goods/ Suing the United States under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA) is a viable remedy for wrongfully seizing goods under the civil forfeiture laws. On Nov. 3, U.S. District Court Judge Lynn Adelman refused to dismiss a claim brought by the owner of nearly one million dollars worth of infant formula that was seized in 2007. Although the formula was seized in February 2007, on suspicion it had been stolen from retail stores, no criminal charges have ever been filed. Kaloti Wholesale, Inc., the owner of the formula, tried to have the formula sold after it was seized, with the proceeds to be placed in escrow, before it spoiled. In March 2009, however, the 7th Circuit held that the district court did not abuse its discretion in refusing to permit the sale, and all the formula spoiled...

23. Authorities see growth spurt in theft of infant formula By BRENT ENGEL Hannibal Courier-Post (Hannibal, MO) Posted Nov 11, 2010 @ 08:05 AM http://www.hannibal.net/newsnow/x115987923/Authorities-see-growth-spurt-in-theft-of-infant-formula Winfield, MO — Supermarkets and law enforcement are stepping up efforts to stop the theft of powdered infant formula. The often high-priced products are a favorite target of thieves, who sell formula on the black market or use it to cut the potency of cocaine and heroin. A Winfield grocery was hit so many times that it finally took most of its formula off the shelves. Hannibal stores haven’t had a problem, but still are taking precautions... ―These people are professionals at this,‖ Heminghaus said. ―They come in quick. They know where to go. They’re in and out within minutes.‖ Infant formula has been among the top 10 most shoplifted items in America for the last decade, according to the food industry. About one third of sales are funded through the taxpayer-subsidized Women, Infants and Children program. A can may cost $10 to $45, depending upon the brand, size and the mix. That makes the staple a lucrative pinch for crooks... Authorities nationwide have arrested gangs of thieves who are trafficking in black market baby formula and federal investigators have even traced cash from illegal sales of the products to nations known to harbor terrorists…

24. Authorities crack food stamp fraud, money laundering operation November 9, 2010 http://www.midhudsonnews.com/News/2010/November/09/Singh_Kumar_arr-09Nov10.htm KINGSTON – Two men are under arrest, charged in connection with a 10 month investigation into fraud and potential money laundering, Ulster County District Attorney Holley Carnright said Tuesday. Hundreds of thousands of dollars were stolen from state taxpayers through the operation, it is alleged. Kuldeep Singh and Surinder Kumar have been charged have been charged with grand larceny in the fourth degree, felony misuse of food stamps, falsifying business records in the first degree and scheme to defraud in the first degree. The charges allege the men, along with another individual, Kanwarjit Sing, have been operating an extensive food stamp fraud and unregistered money service business out of the Sunoco Convenient Mart on Broadway in of Kingston…

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INTERNATIONAL

25. Financing terrorism: Show me the money Army, law enforcement agencies lack a counter-terrorism strategy that can throttle the financial bloodline of militants The Express Tribune (Pakistan) November 10, 2010 http://tribune.com.pk/story/74843/financing-terrorism-show-me-the-money/ KARACHI: Pakistan seems to lack a counter-terrorism strategy that cuts off the financial blood line of militants, analysts say. ―Our strategy seems to be focused only on bombing Waziristan,‖ says analyst Zahid Hussain. ―No one is focusing on cutting off the supply lines of militants.‖ Amir Rana, director of the Pakistan Institute for Peace Studies, agrees. ―The Pakistan Army and law enforcement agencies need to tackle this problem head on if they’re serious about dismantling the firepower of terrorists.‖ There are two basic funding channels for the militants. First, there are the established infrastructures of money generation such as charity collected through Zakat, madrassas and mosques, businesses and revenue earned through shops built around these places of worship, the collection of animal hides and remittances sent from overseas Pakistanis. Only a fraction of the funds comes from this channel, increasing dependence on the other source: income through criminal activities such as bank robberies, kidnapping for ransom, banditry, illegal taxation and drugs…

26. Indonesian Cleric Gets 10 Years for Funding Terror The Jakarta Globe Adhe Bhakti | November 04, 2010 http://www.thejakartaglobe.com/indonesia/indonesian-cleric-gets-10-years-for-funding-terror/404975 Jakarta. The West Jakarta District Court on Thursday sentenced hard-line cleric Eko Budi Wardoyo to 10 years in prison for his involvement in gunning down a priest in 2004 and the 2005 bombing of a market that killed 22 people, both in Central Sulawesi. Eko was ruled to have provided funding to the perpetrators of both acts of terrorism, and to have given other assistance. In the first case, the shooter, Basri, who has since been convicted, fired into a packed Efata Church in Palu, Central Sulawesi, during Sunday service on July 18, 2004, instantly killing the Rev. Susianti Tinulele and wounding four others. The judges in Jakarta found that Eko had given Basri an envelope filled with money as well as a motorcycle to flee the scene after the shooting. The incident was among a string of attacks on churches across Indonesia that took place between 2000 and 2004. In the second case, Eko was ruled to have given Mujadid and Ardin Janatu, both now behind bars, money to assemble and detonate two bombs at Tentena Central Market in Tentena, Central Sulawesi, on May 28, 2005. The attack killed 22 people and wounded at least 90. A similar market bombing in December of that year killed eight and injured 45 in Palu...

U.S. worries about upswing in terrorism in Indonesia By Lolita C. Baldor Associated Press 2:02 p.m., Sunday, November 7, 2010 http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2010/nov/7/us-worries-about-upswing-terrorism-indonesia/ WASHINGTON (AP) — The discovery of a militant training camp in Indonesia, along with persistent terrorist attacks there, have increased U.S. concerns that extremists are regrouping and eyeing Western targets in a country long viewed as a counterterrorism success story. With President Obama set to begin a visit Tuesday to the world's most populous Muslim country, there is renewed attention on terrorists in Indonesia who in the past year appeared to be banding together into a new al-Qaeda-influenced insurgency. Recent Pentagon moves to renew a training program with Indonesia's special forces and bolster military assistance show that the Obama administration believes the country needs more help tracking and rooting out insurgents, particularly those who rejoin the fight once they are released from jail...

Terror Agency to Deal With Extremism at Indonesian Universities Anita Rachman | November 08, 2010 Jakarta Globe http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7195 Jakarta. The National Anti-Terror Agency says it will work with the National Education Ministry to tackle a rise in radicalism among university students, of which it had warned earlier. On Saturday, Ansyaad Mbai, the agency’s director, said radical thinking had permeated the country’s top universities and was no longer confined to lesser-known institutions of higher education. He also said that while pesantren, or 11

Islamic boarding schools, were widely believed to be hotbeds for radicalization, the truth was that a growing proportion of the country’s terrorists were being indoctrinated at college campuses across the nation…

Indonesian stands trial on terror finance November 9, 2010 - 9:19PM AFP http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7196 A doctor accused of financing a terrorist cell known as al-Qaeda in Aceh went on trial on Tuesday in Indonesia, facing possible execution by firing squad if found guilty. The cell featured local and foreign Islamist militants under the leadership of alleged Bali bomber Dulmatin, who was killed in March after police discovered the group's training camp in Aceh province. Dozens of alleged members have been captured or killed, including 41-year-old doctor and alleged financier Syarif Usman, who appeared in the South Jakarta district court on Tuesday on multiple terrorism-related charges…

27. FBI: al-Qaida's Yemen group not behind Dubai crash (AP) – November 10, 2010 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gFKl-kFKFSaYnxQBvk1a2wKSgfnw WASHINGTON (AP) — The FBI and Homeland Security say al-Qaida's affiliate in Yemen was not behind the Sept. 3 crash of a UPS cargo plane in Dubai. The terror group al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula claimed responsibility for that crash last week along with taking the blame for the recent mail bomb plots. The FBI and Homeland Security say they do believe the group is responsible for the mail bomb plot, but add that the group falsely took credit for the Dubai crash to bolster their image. This is according to an internal bulletin obtained by The Associated Press...

Dubai re-examining cargo plane crash in light of Yemen plane bomb Dubai is re-examining evidence from a cargo plane that crashed killing its two pilots in September after al-Qaeda claimed to have brought it down with a bomb. By Richard Spencer in Dubai Published: 7:42PM GMT 07 Nov 2010 The Daily Telegraph (London) http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7197

28. APNewsBreak: Georgia details nuclear smuggling (AP) November 8, 2010 http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5hD0ffxlYdFp5kXK3vAiVnGZgOuvQ WASHINGTON (AP) — Early one morning in March, two Armenians slipped aboard a train in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, unaware they were being watched. They removed a pack of Marlboro Reds hidden in a maintenance box between two cars. Inside the pack, Georgian authorities say, was nuclear bomb grade uranium, encased in lead. Before long, Georgian officials seized the uranium and arrested the men, breaking up a ring they say was willing to sell material for nuclear weapons to any bidder. International officials see the operation as one victory in the effort to prevent nuclear weapons from falling into terrorists' hands. The seizure was reported in April, but few details were disclosed. The Associated Press now has obtained more information from Georgian officials about an operation involving international smugglers and undercover agents. Some elements were confirmed by U.N. and U.S. officials…

29. Police chief: Terrorism, criminal activity overlapping At Homeland Security Conference in TA, Police Insp.-Gen. David Cohen says criminals, terrorists moving from local to global networks. By YAAKOV LAPPIN 11/03/2010 04:22 Jerusalem Post http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=193794 Criminal activity and terrorism share common traits and are beginning to overlap, Police Insp.-Gen. David Cohen said on Tuesday during a Homeland Security conference in Tel Aviv. Addressing the conference, organized by the Israel Export and International Cooperation Institute, Cohen said criminal and terrorist networks were both seeking to transform themselves from local to global operations. Criminals and terrorists use the same smuggling routes to transport weapons, drugs and illegal migrants, he added, while terrorist organizations profit from the drug trade. Cohen said that the 27,000- strong police force

12 has over the past decade shifted from counterterrorism as a top priority to the goal of crime fighting, due to the dramatic drop in terrorist attacks, a process described by the police chief as ―the blue revolution.‖..

30. The Terror Threat in Europe Germany Considers Blacklist for Airports with Lax Cargo Security By SPIEGEL Staff SPIEGEL ONLINE 11/08/2010 12:11 PM http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,727814,00.html There are growing signs that al-Qaida will try to strike in Europe. The bombs from Yemen show how dangerous the terrorist organization remains today. The German government is pushing for a massive expansion of cargo inspections, and it is clear that things will never be the same again for freight traffic… The intelligence experts are looking into the possibility of bombs coming from Yemen and an attack similar to the one that occurred in Mumbai in 2008. In this connection, they are reviewing statements made by two German Islamists, Ahmed Siddiqui, 36, and Rami M., 26…

31. Top charities give £200,000 to group which supported al-Qaeda cleric The radical cleric accused of inspiring the cargo bomb plot has been backed by a prominent British campaign group which has financial support from leading charities. By Jason Lewis, Investigations Editor 07 Nov 2010 The Sunday Telegraph (London) http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7200 Cageprisoners, a self-styled human rights organisation, has a long association with Anwar al-Awlaki, who was last week accused of being one of the figures behind the terrorist plot to blow up cargo planes which saw a powerful device defused at East Midlands Airport. The Islamic preacher, based in Yemen, was invited to address two Cageprisoners' fundraising dinners via video link, one last year and one in 2008. The group has now told its backers that it no longer supports the cleric and that it "disagreed" with him over "the killing of civilians". But an examination of the Cageprisoners website last week suggested that its support for the cleric was as strong as ever. Cageprisoners was set up to lobby on behalf of terror suspects held at Guantanamo Bay and those monitored under control orders in the UK. The Sunday Telegraph can reveal that it is being funded by the Joseph Rowntree Trust, a Quaker-run fund set up by the chocolate-maker and philanthropist a century ago, and The Roddick Foundation, a charity set up by the family of Anita Roddick, the Body Shop founder, after her death three years ago…

32. Islam Channel breaks British broadcast rules, regulator says By Richard Allen Greene, CNN November 8, 2010 The station promotes a fringe, intolerant form of Islam, a critic says The channel encouraged violence against women and backed Hamas, officials say http://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/europe/11/08/uk.islam.channel London, England (CNN) -- Britain's Islam Channel broke broadcasting regulations by condoning marital rape, encouraging violence against women, and promoting an anti-Israel, pro-Hamas line, the country's broadcast regulator Ofcom ruled Monday…

33. Radical British Imam Wins Citizenship Appeal Selah Hennessy | London 05 November 2010 VOA News http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/7176 A controversial Islamic cleric in Britain has won an appeal against the government's attempt to strip him of his British passport. The decision creates further obstacles for U.S. authorities who want to extradite the cleric on terrorist charges. Radical Muslim cleric Abu Hamza's lawyers argued that he has already been stripped of his Egyptian citizenship. To strip him of his British passport as well, they argued, would render him 'stateless'. On those grounds, a Special Immigration Appeals Commission ruled in Hamza's favor. Hamza is an Egyptian-born cleric who has one eye and a hook for one of his hands. He is now serving a prison sentence in Britain for inciting murder and race hate and he is also facing extradition to the United States…

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