Posted on 07/25/2002 6:08:06 AM PDT by freeperfromnj
Snared in a federal money- smuggling probe initiated after Sept. 11, a Yemeni national admitted in federal court in Newark yesterday illegally shipping more than a half-million dollars in cash and money orders to the Middle East.
Tawfiq Al Robiai, 34, of New York City faces up to five years in prison after pleading guilty to a single charge of operating an unlicensed money transfer business.
Al Robiai's case, involving money shipments through Newark International Airport, is one of more than a half-dozen cash-smuggling operations under investigation in New Jersey by the U.S. Customs Service, officials said.
The probes are part of "Operation Oasis," a Customs Service initiative launched a month after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks.
Designed to stem the flow of unreported currency from the United States to terrorist groups overseas, the operation has resulted in at least 200 money seizures totaling more than $10 million across the country. In addition, seven people have been charged with violating currency reporting requirements.
Most important, authorities say, the seizures have generated dozens of leads that have been passed on to agents investigating terrorist financing networks.
Martin Ficke, associate special agent in charge of the Customs Service for New Jersey, stressed that neither Al Robiai's case nor the other probes in the state have produced any direct evidence of terrorist links.
"We can put the money in Yemen. We can put the money in Pakistan. But it is difficult to find where it goes from there," Ficke said.
Federal agents uncovered Al Robiai's scheme in October, when they intercepted a package at Newark Airport's Federal Express facility. Though Al Robiai declared the contents "business documents with no value," the package contained $60,000 in money orders, money-grams and checks, according to court documents.
The package was to have been shipped to an individual in Yemen identified only as Saleh Ayzeh, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Leslie Schwartz.
Authorities said they are looking into Ayzeh's background.
Under questioning by U.S. District Judge William Walls, Al Robiai said he had collected funds from other Yemeni nationals who owed money to Ayzeh.
Al Robiai, who has lived in the United States for more than a decade, was employed as a sandwich- maker at a New York City deli, but he admitted he ran the money- transmitting business out of his apartment.
"I collected cash (and checks) from people and converted it into money orders," he said, speaking with the aid of an Arabic interpreter.
He said that in some cases, he sent the money to his clients' families for a fee of $15 to $20 a shipment.
"I did it to support myself and my family," he told the court.
A search of Al Robiai's apartment after his arrest yielded an additional $10,000 in money orders and records listing the names of people who had used his money- transmitting business.
Al Robiai admitted arranging shipments totaling between $500,000 and $800,000 since October 2000, but authorities say he is believed to have smuggled as much as $1.5 million out of the country over an 18-month period.
Held without bail since his arrest, Al Robiai is scheduled to be sentenced Nov. 6. In addition to a prison term, he faces a fine of up to $250,000. P> Staff writer Mark Mueller contributed to this report.
are you sure this guy wasn't an assistant basketball coarch for UK? funds from fed ex was one of the cats' favorite MO's.
btw, got any stats on this saleh ayzeh? how tall is he? what position does he play? how many ppg?
WASHINGTON – After receiving reports that the Yemeni government has provided information concerning the specific perpetrators who carried out the attack on the USS COLE, Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., today urged Reps. C.W. Bill Young, R-Fla., and Sonny Callahan, R-Ala., to consult with U.S. officials involved in the investigation before going forward with proposed legislation which would make aid to Yemen contingent on assurances that Yemen is fully supporting the investigation.
In conversations with General Tommy Franks, the Commander of Central Command, and U.S. Ambassador to Yemen Barbara Bodine, Levin was informed that the Yemeni officials have been "fully, actively and completely cooperating"and have provided information that has been "vital, critical and fundamental" to U.S. officials involved in the investigation. Based on this information, Levin urged Young and Callahan to consult with General Franks and Ambassador Bodine before taking any further steps on the proposed legislation.
"I am concerned that your recent proposal that Congress should make any aid to Yemen contingent on assurances that Yemen is fully supporting the ongoing investigation into the attack on the USS COLE – when it clearly appears the Yemeni Government is already fully cooperating with us – could have the opposite effect from what you intend," Levin wrote to Young and Callahan. "It could be a negative and perhaps disheartening signal to them instead of the positive signal their full cooperation deserves."
And even more interesting is that Bodine's name came up when I was doing research for a post on the thread "Homeland Insecurity [FBI: Clinton diverted resources away from Arab Terror to focus on Christians]"
Bodine was a Clinton appointee.
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