Feds Raid Software Company Suspected of Terror Ties

BOSTON — Federal agents late Thursday night raided a Quincy, Mass., company that provides critical software to major U.S. agencies and is suspected of having ties to Usama bin Laden and Al Qaeda terrorists.

Ptech Inc.'s clients include the FBI, Internal Revenue Service, Energy Department, Federal Aviation Administration, U.S. Naval air systems, the U.S. Air Force, NATO, the U.S. House of Representatives, the Department of Energy and the agency that handles nuclear weapons security, according to its Web site.

Officials suspect "back doors" may have been built into Ptech software that could enable terrorists to access federal computers.

The raid "appears to be an important break," former FBI chief of domestic terrorism Robert Blitzer told Fox News Friday morning.

"We're investigating whether a businessman on the list of alleged or potential terrorist financiers is a part-owner of the firm," a federal law enforcement official told The Associated Press. "The question is whether there is a potential for U.S. government computer systems being compromised.

"For example, does the software company have the ability to access computer systems using knowledge of the software?"

Federal investigators suspect PTech is secretly by Qassin al-Kadi, one of 12 Saudi businessmen accused of funneling millions of dollars to Al Qaeda.

Al-Kadi has repeatedly denied any connection to bin Laden, but he is on the U.S. government's so-called "dirty dozen" list of leading terror financiers who are being investigated by the CIA. His accounts have been frozen by the United States.

American officials say al-Kadi and the other businessmen on the CIA list all have business and personal connections to the Saudi royal family.

"It would be a big catch" if it turns out the suspicions are true, Sen. Richard Shelby, R-Ala., chairman of the Senate Select Intelligence Committee, told Fox News. "I think it points out that anybody that’s in the software business and especially dealing with sensitive agencies of all kinds … we've got to know who owns these businesses. It just can't be somebody overseas, an absentee owner. It's too important for that."

There is suspicion that Ptech helped terrorists get some sort of top-secret software or data from the company's federal customers.

"That wouldn't surprise any of us today," Shelby said. "That is a problem we'll have to deal with in the future."

The raid was the culmination of a top-secret investigation coordinated with the White House, according to ABC News, which first reported the story.

The network showed footage of agents inside the Ptech headquarters, searching the offices and going through the company's computers.

The agents brought their own computers with them to download files from the firm's computers.

Messages left with Ptech were not immediately returned, and no one could be seen at the company's office.

A spokesman at U.S. Customs in Washington said information about the case was being handled by the U.S. Attorney in Massachusetts. The U.S. Attorney's Office did not have an immediate comment.

The raid was part of Operation Greenquest, a federal counter-terrorism financial crimes task force, and was carried out by agents from various federal agencies including the IRS, FBI and Secret Service. The operation is run by Treasury and has been investigating the funding of terror groups.

In recent months, there has been squabbling between the FBI and Customs Service over who should control these investigations.

Here's a few more details:

Federal agents raid Quincy software company

Terrorist ties suspected

By Jay Lindsay, Associated Press, 12/06/02

QUINCY -- A software company whose clients reportedly include the FBI was raided early Friday by Customs agents as part of a terrorist investigation, a federal law enforcement official said.

On the Web: www.ptechinc.com

The company, Ptech Inc., says its clients also include Naval air systems, the Air Force, NATO, the House of Representatives and the Energy Department.

Government software specialists said the company's software was safe, after studying the software code for evidence it might do anything other than advertised, such as allowing any insiders to read or steal sensitive data, a U.S. official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

The White House also was satisifed that the software never had been used in any sensitive government systems, this person said.

The raid came in the middle of the night, and was coordinated by the White House, ABC News reported.

A federal law enforcement official who spoke to The Associated Press said: "We're investigating whether a businessman on the list of alleged or potential terrorist financiers is a part-owner of the firm.

"The question is whether there is a potential for U.S. government computer systems being compromised," the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity. "For example, does the software company have the ability to access computer systems using knowledge of the software?" The list of alleged or potential terrorist financiers is compiled by the Treasury Department.

Another U.S. law enforcement official, also speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no evidence of any compromise of government computers or any coding embedded in the software sold to the government that would be of benefit to terrorists.

This person also confirmed that the investigation was focused on links between Ptech officials and certain charitable groups.

No arrests have been made or are contemplated in the near future, this person added. But the investigation is continuing.

White House officials said Friday they did not coordinate the raid, the FBI did. The White House's cyber-security office did play a part, however, in maintaining the integrity of the company softwear, according to officials who spoke on condition of anonymity.

One of the sources said investigators suspect a link to al-Qaida.

Messages left with Quincy-based Ptech were not immediately returned.

However, James Cerrato, the company's chief product officer, said as he walked into the office Friday morning: "There's absolutely nothing there" in terms of link to al-Qaida.

"I think as soon as the investigation concludes, that will put a light on things."

Boston FBI spokeswoman Gail Marcinkiewicz said she had no immediate comment. A spokesman at Customs in Washington said information about the case was being handled by the U.S. attorney in Massachusetts. That office had no immediate comment.

No one answered the door or the phone Friday at the home of the company's chairman and chief executive officer, Oussama Ziade. A woman who answered the phone at the home of vice president Hussein Ibrahim and declined to give her name said he was not available.

Ziade, using the same corporate address as Ptech's, also was formerly associated with another firm, Object Business Investors Inc., which dissolved in August 1998.

A woman who answered the phone at the management office of the complex where Ptech is located also declined to comment, except to say the company had not been there very long.

Associated Press writers Pete Yost, Ted Bridis, Ron Fournier and Curt Anderson contributed to this story from Washington.

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This could be a big deal. I wonder which other companies are being investigated? Also, I wonder if they are looking into connections besides solely ones of Saudi immigrant / expat ownership / management. Personally, I have a rather long list of national affiliations to be suspicious of in this regard: Syria, Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Myanmar, Laos, PRC, Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Czech Republic, Cuba, Venezuela... the list goes on. Any company supplying to the DOD, Secret Service, CIA, NSA, FBI, Homeland Security, DOT, Treasury, etc (and critical civilian infrastructure) that has immigrants or expats from any of these countries in either significant decision making positions or key technical positions should investigate themselves if possible and report out to the FBI. The FBI should in parallel investigate all such companies.

I have my own experience to share in this area. I worked for a defense contracting firm that had a map for its employees with all of our places of origin. Mine was in southern California. Two of our more exotic locations were Vietnam and the PRC. I found out that my company employed three Vietnamese nationals from Ho Chi Minh City who served as a technical IT team led by a Taiwanese American who listed his place of origin as southern China. He had been fired by Los Alamos as a potential security leak during the Chinagate affair. I investigated further and was assured that the Vietnamese nationals did not do any classified work whatsoever. However, the office where they worked has since become a secure zone where classified information may be transported and potentially stored so they could potentially have access. I never really found out the nature of their computer work for DoD. I guarantee you that my experience is duplicated hundreds of times over in firms across the country.

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