Social Security Data a Major Source in Terrorism Probes

Washington Post ^ | 11-10-06 | Carlos Roig, Christopher Kriva

[xtinct]

Sohaib Bin Lateef left Pakistan for the United States more than 25 years ago and fulfilled his dreams with a suburban home, a family and a string of gas stations and convenience stores in St. Louis. But along the way, he says, he took some bad advice and obtained a Social Security number under a false name.

Now Bin Lateef, 47, faces deportation and stands to lose everything, even though he insists he has no ties to terrorists. The Justice Department lists his case as terrorism-related.

[MNJohnnie]

Thanks! Thanks! Publish more of our secrets Treason Media. Let Al Qeda know where they are vulnerable so they know what NOT to do.

[excludethis]

Identity theft and fraudulent use of a Social Security card should be enough to deport his rear end. However, the Dems and Rhinos will pass legislation to give this guy amnesty and social security benefits.

Anyone want to bet where this money went:

"Bin Lateef believes he originally came to the attention of investigators because he was a Pakistani national with a check-cashing company among his holdings. He said authorities began looking into his business in 2003. He also said that for a number of years he sent as much as $24,000 to $36,000 annually to his family in Pakistan, sometimes using "hawala," the system of informal money transfers in which cash moves between friends and relatives."

[MonroeDNA]

Not one mile of the fence will ever be built.

[Zhang Fei]

Sounds like this guy is a big time tax evader, not to mention terrorist financier. Excellent work on the part of the Feds. They can't prove the terror charges, but they sure can demonstrate the tax evasion. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

[GarySpFc]

Somewhere along the line the author forgot to mention the subject is an illegal alien.

[proxy_user]

I read the whole article, and didn't see any mention of tax evasion.

Apparently, even if he is deported, he will still own the house and businesses.

[pepsionice]

What is funny about this article...is that he paid his taxes. Yep...make sure everyone understands this fact...he paid taxes. Never once, did this guy ever demonstrate himself as a threat. In fact...he did the American dream...build on hard work and establish your reputation on sweat.

Just another reason why this administration has a broken compass and a 40-year old map. They want to build half a fence to protect the Mexican border...not a whole fence. They want to establish all kinds of laws to take care of illegal alliens...yet never enforce them...yet talk about adding more laws. This is the same administration that had alot of ability to monitor people with search warrants...yet chose to avoid that because of some kind of perceived presidential authority.

What did this administration do about ID theft over past six years? Virtually nothing. What did this administration choose to do about fixing social security over the past six years? Virtually nothing.

I would like to stand with a Conservative organization and work on the values of America...but their track record is that of the Milwaukee Brewers...who are yearly losers.

[Virginia Ridgerunner]

But along the way, he says, he took some bad advice and obtained a Social Security number under a false name.

Back to Pakistan with you then!

[Zhang Fei]

I read the whole article, and didn't see any mention of tax evasion.

Movements of cash overseas above a certain amount must be declared to the IRS. Non-reporting of these amounts constitutes tax evasion. Evading taxes is possibly why he did not report these transactions, or move the money through official banking channels, choosing instead to use the under-the-table hawala system. Or worse. My suspicion - which is similar to what the Feds may believe - is that he was actually making contributions to terrorist outfits. Here's the relevant passage:

Bin Lateef believes he originally came to the attention of investigators because he was a Pakistani national with a check-cashing company among his holdings. He said authorities began looking into his business in 2003. He also said that for a number of years he sent as much as $24,000 to $36,000 annually to his family in Pakistan, sometimes using "hawala," the system of informal money transfers in which cash moves between friends and relatives.

His lawyer believes authorities also were concerned about a September 2003 trip Bin Lateef took with his family through Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and Germany.

Commenting on this type of case, Jimmy Gurul?, a law professor at the University of Notre Dame who was undersecretary for enforcement at the Treasury Department from 2001 to 2003, said a number of issues would have interested investigators. "The combination of the international travel, the combination of the money being transferred abroad through a hawala-type system or certainly the use of false identification documents are all red flags of possible terrorist activity," he said.

[Zhang Fei]

What is funny about this article...is that he paid his taxes. Yep...make sure everyone understands this fact...he paid taxes. Never once, did this guy ever demonstrate himself as a threat. In fact...he did the American dream...build on hard work and establish your reputation on sweat.

Most terrorist financiers are legitimate businessmen. (Criminal outfits have too much day-to-day heat on them to contemplate adding to the scrutiny by financing terrorists). Some are even highly-placed government officials - people that the Saudi government had bumped off after 9/11. This guy paid some of his taxes. He admits to sending $30,000 annually to Pakistan via the hawala system, in defiance of IRS reporting requirements. How much he actually sent, we won't ever know, since the whole thing is off-the-books. Hard-working businessmen support political causes. Among Muslims, a major political cause is helping their holy warriors stomp Uncle Sam. I am personally acquainted with a number of successful Muslim entrepreneurs who think Uncle Sam had 9/11 coming. Do I know they're actually financing terrorists? No. But I can tell you that being a successful entrepreneur in America does not preclude doing things against American interests. There are plenty of productive citizens who have acted against the national interest in favor of foreign countries or causes.