Posted on 03/03/2004 5:27:46 PM PST by William McKinley
Mar. 3--VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. - Federal agents arrested a gas station owner Tuesday morning on charges that he and others, including a Maryland lawyer, conspired to allow illegal Middle Eastern immigrants into the country.
The agents stormed a home in the 1900 block of Abbotsbury Way, off Holland Road, and arrested Zulfiqar Ali, 43.
Four others were arrested in Herndon, McLean, Potomac, Md., and Kingston, N.Y. An indictment filed in Greenbelt, Md., alleges that Ali and the others allowed an unknown number of illegal immigrants into the country from here to New York from 1998 to last year by filing fraudulent documents with the government.
The immigrants were supposed to work at gas stations, restaurants and construction companies but never did. Some of the businesses were owned by the suspects, but some were unwitting clients of the Maryland attorney, according to the indictment.
It was unclear whether any of the illegal immigrants have been arrested or located.
Although the case was handled by the Department of Homeland Security, there is no indication of any connection to terrorism.
Ali was charged with racketeering and conspiring to harbor illegal immigrants and conspiring to submit false documents to the government.
He appeared Tuesday afternoon in Norfolk's U.S. District Court and asked for a hearing on his arrest and detention. During the hearing, Ali, limping and clenching his side, talked about having a liver ailment.
"I have health issues," he said. "I am in a lot of pain."
He said he was supposed to see a doctor Tuesday and that the federal agents refused to give him his medication.
U.S. District Court Magistrate James E. Bradberry asked a prosecutor to consult with Ali's doctors. He ordered Ali detained and set another hearing for 2:30 p.m. today.
Court records say that Ali is the owner of several corporations that operate gas stations here and in New York. The names of his stations were not disclosed.
Also charged in the case was Maqsood Hamid Mir, a lawyer with Mir Law Associates in Potomac. He is accused of using the names of business clients to obtain fraudulent immigration documents.
From Pardek's thread:
(KINGSTON) TWO PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED LAST NIGHT AT THE RAMADA INN ON ROUTE 28 OUTSIDE KINGSTON BY THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY. OFFICIALS WOULD NOT GIVE ANY SPECIFICS ON THE CASE, OR THE NAMES OF THOSE ARRESTED. AUTHORITIES DID SAY A LARGE QUANITY OF CASH WAS RECOVERED AT THE MOTEL. THE INVESTIGATION IS CONTINUING BY THE IMMIGRATION CUSTOMS ENFORCEMENT UNIT OF THE DEPARTMENT OF HOMELAND SECURITY.Large quantities of cash, eh?
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