New York: 3 Yemeni Muslims charged with money-laundering to aid Hizballah

Yehia Ali Ahmed Alomari, Mohamed Al Huraibi, Saleh Mohamed Taher Saeed ran mini-marts in southwest and northeast Rochester, and were trying to get the money to Hizballah -- or so say the charges. Hizballah's Hassan Nasrallah has chanted, "Death to America." Are these men naturalized citizens? Did they swear loyalty to the U.S.? If so, one would think this case would raise questions about immigration and oaths taken by Muslims who believe in the concept of religious deception as delineated by Qur'an 3:28 (see Ibn Kathir's explanation here). But it won't.

"Grand jury charges Yemeni trio with money-laundering," by Michael Zeigler for the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle, May 8 (thanks to JHN):

A federal grand jury has brought money-laundering charges against three Yemeni men for allegedly transferring money into overseas accounts they believed were controlled by the Islamic terrorist organization Hezbollah.

The charges were brought against Yehia Ali Ahmed Alomari, 27; Mohamed Al Huraibi, 41; and Saleh Mohamed Taher Saeed, 28, who ran mini-marts in southwest and northeast Rochester.

The indictment, handed up Wednesday, alleges money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The three were arrested in March 2007 and are in federal custody. They were indicted after attempts at plea negotiations failed.

If convicted, Alomari, Al Huraibi and Saeed face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn said.

The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began an investigation in January 2005 after banking records showed that a Social Security number assigned to Saeed was associated with 324 overseas currency transactions totaling $12.3 million from October 2002 through November 2004....

That's a lot of Slushies.

Posted by Robert at May 8, 2008 3:57 PM
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