Posted on 05/02/2008 6:14:13 AM PDT by LSUfan
Man found dead was being investigated over charity cash
Bound body of Riad Hamad was found last month in Lady Bird Lake.
A man whose body was found in Lady Bird Lake last month had been under investigation by federal authorities who said they could not trace the whereabouts of more than $500,000 he received for his charity, according to a search warrant obtained Wednesday.
Riad Hamad, 55, a teacher at Clint Small Jr. Middle School in Southwest Austin, was found April 16 near Comal Street and Nash Hernandez Sr. Road.
Police have said that they think he might have killed himself and that he had talked about committing suicide.
However, the condition of his body — he was found with his hands and legs bound and tape over his eyes — has caused others to consider the death suspicious.
Hamad's family has described him as a peace activist who worked to help others locally and internationally.
According to a search warrant affidavit, Hamad operated the Palestine Children's Welfare Fund, which bills itself as an organization to improve the lives of Palestinian children.
It said that Hamad received $633,965 in donations and that he sent some of the money — about $527,000 — to the Middle East. But the affidavit said authorities "can not determine the ultimate disposition of these funds at this time."
The affidavit said authorities think Hamad was using the donated money for personal use and not paying federal income tax on it.
The document also said that Hamad failed to file several income tax returns from 2000 to 2006 and did not pay any taxes on earned income during those years.
Hamad also gave copies of unfiled federal income tax returns and false documents to various universities in Texas to obtain federal loans in the amount of $135,000, the affidavit said.
Hamad's relatives could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
Huh?
No more contradictory than being a muslim “peace activist”.
Ya think?
Sure looks like suicide to me, neat trick to bind your own hands and legs and tape over your eyes before committing suicide.
However, the condition of his body — he was found with his hands and legs bound and tape over his eyes — has caused others to consider the death suspicious.
Ya think?! LOL!
I thought this was one of those funds that had been determined to be a contibutor to terrorism, and the gummint had shut them down, or frozen their assets or something.
When did Barney Fife relocate to Texas?
I’m guessing his terrorist buddies decided that dead men tell no tales
You know, I've been seeing a lot of that from the various police statements lately. Suicide among those under investigation, indictment, or actually convicted, has apparently become endemic. Especially among those who have said that they have no intention of killing themselves and then are found bound and dead. It must take a lot of effort to kill oneself apparently.
Of course not. They need the M.E. to reach that conclusion.
“However, the condition of his body — he was found with his hands and legs bound and tape over his eyes — has caused others to consider the death suspicious.”
YEA, IT WAS A SUICIDE, no ties to terrorists. Like the woman in Memphis (right after 9/11) who was found in a burned car with a concrete block on the gas petal, and the car doused in gasoline.
She was an employee of the state drivers license bureau, and had been selling licenses to Middle Easterners.
Yep. Especially if he really was skimming off the top...
“Give them some credit: At least, they didn’t conclude that he died of natural causes.”
And we didn’t receive the obligatory, “no terrorism involved” statement.
Damn. Never even heard about that one.
Terrorist funding....the American way!
No, no, no, it was not suicide nor murder. It was an escape and eluding exercise gone bad. His muzzie friends tied, bound and gagged him then thru him in the lake. He was supposed to escape like Houdini and then meet up with his camel jockey buddies back at the strip joint in order to discuss escape techniques. /S
The article pasted below appeared shortly after 9/11. I live in Tennessee now and it was big news here.
BTW, I attended college at McNeese State University in Lake Charles (lived there several years), and, although not a big football fan, do cheer for LSU.
F.B.I. Says Arson Killed Woman Accused in License Scheme
By REUTERS
MEMPHIS, Feb. 14 — A deliberately set fire caused the death of a driver’s license examiner who had been accused of illegally selling licenses to five Middle Eastern men who were being investigated for possible ties to terrorism, the Federal Bureau of Investigation has said.
Gasoline was poured on the clothing of the examiner, Katherine Smith, before she burned to death on Sunday in an automobile accident, J. Suzanne Nash, an F.B.I. agent, said on Wednesday.
Ms. Smith died one day before she was to have appeared in court with her five co-defendants after being arrested last week on charges of conspiracy to obtain driver’s licenses illegally.
In a federal court hearing here on Wednesday, Ms. Nash said an accelerant had been found in Ms. Smith’s car, adding that her death was “not an accident.”
Investigators have said the gasoline tank of the automobile did not explode. Ms. Nash also said witnesses had reported that the interior of Ms. Smith’s car was on fire before the vehicle struck a utility pole, causing just minor damage to the car.
Ms. Nash told the court on Monday that the Federal Bureau of Investigation was looking into whether the five men who were arrested had ties to terrorist groups, citing connections to the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center.
The five men, one of whom said he was a plumber at the trade center and had a visitor’s pass to the towers dated Sept. 5, are being held without bond.
A lawyer for one of the defendants has denied that they had any connection to terrorism and said they were seeking documentation to work in the United States.
Maybe he owed MS13 for bringing some “refugees” across the border!
As the Clintons have taught us through Arkanside, it all depends on which politicians may be implicated and what evidence one may have as to whether someone commits suicide or is killed.
In the case of the DC madame and one of her workers, there is enough WA DC connections that probably are people in very high government places that didn't want to be embarrassed. I am sure some in power feel that is worth a couple of suicides. As to this likely terrorist fund-raiser, I suspect that there is a lot more to the story of why the police are making such a dumb statement as to suicide. I suspect that the police are trying to provide "cover" for someone (an informant) or something that they don't want the public to know about. Alright everybody, move along....nothing to see here....nothing happened.... I think I have heard that before.
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