A recently released unsealed Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) affidavit states that a top Hamas political leader was heavily involved for a decade in financing a Richardson computer business, receiving profit-sharing payments even when the company was accumulating losses.
This past December, a federal grand jury in Dallas, Texas, returned a major indictment, as a result of an investigation by the North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force. The thirty-three count indictment charged Moussa Abu Marzook, a senior leader of Hamas, his wife, Nadia Elashi, InfoCom Corporation, along with InfoCom Vice President Ghassan Elashi, who is also the chairman of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, and four of his brothers, all employees of InfoCom.
All those in question are charged with illegal exports, making false statements on export declarations, dealing in the property of a designated terrorist, conspiracy and money laundering. In addition, Ghassan Elashi and his brothers are charged with illegally selling computers and computer parts to Libya and Syria, both designated state sponsors of terrorism.
According to the indictment, Marzook allegedly conspired with the Richardson, Texas-based InfoCom Corporation and five of its employees to hide his financial transactions with the computer company.
In 1995, Marzook was designated as a terrorist whose actions threatened the Middle East peace process, a designation that made it illegal for any US person or entity to conduct any transaction with Marzook.
The indictment alleges that InfoCom continued to engage in transactions with Marzook after his designation as a terrorist, in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA).
The indictment also alleges that Marzook entered into an Islamic contract to invest $250,000 in the name of Marzook's wife. The agreement, reached in or around March 1993, called for regular payments from InfoCom based on the company's net profit/loss. Marzook, his wife and the Elashi brothers conspired between August 1995 and July 2001 to renew the agreement annually and make regular payments to Nadia Elashi, under the direction of Marzook. Once again, a violation of the IEEPA.
The indictment further alleges that InfoCom and the Elashi brothers sold computers and computer parts to Libya and Syria in violation of IEEPA. According to the indictment, they sought to conceal the fact that shipments were ultimately destined for Libya by routing them through a shipping company in the countries of Malta and Italy, and falsely declared that the computer shipments to Syria did not require a license.
The US Department of Justice has conducted investigations into terrorist financing in 22 states, securing 23 convictions, and has worked with the Treasury Department to freeze $112 million in terrorist-related funds. At this time, material support of terrorism charges are pending against individuals in Chicago, Portland, Seattle, Buffalo, San Diego and Houston. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
