(Rochester, N.Y.) - Three convenience stores in Rochester were fronts for a money laundering operation to fund an Islamic terrorist organization according to the FBI
Mohammed Muthana said federal agents are unfairly targeting the convenience store he's run for 13 years. "We are citizens almost 8 years but we don't feel it. After September 11, no, they treat me the wrong way."
In carefully timed raids, FBI agents hit five locations seizing boxes of records and computer components.
Experts from the U.S. Treasury Department and IRS examined financial documents. According to search warrants, they were looking for evidence of large, improper money transfers to Yemen.
Ahmed Nagi, whose home was raided by the FBI said, "They asked me about my social security number and they searched." Authorities tracked 324 overseas money transfers totaling $12.3 million to the same social security number.
Defense attorneys say documents provide another explanation. They say the convenience store owners were authorized by the Yemeni government to act as intermediaries for Yemeni Americans who wanted to send money to family overseas. Yet U.S. authorities say that's not where the money went.
According to court documents the men also agreed to help another man (an undercover agent) send $100,000 directly to Hezbollah.
Three men have now been charged with money laundering and conspiracy.
Prosecutors do not allege that the three men had direct ties with Hezbollah, only that they knowingly sent money to accounts they believed were controlled by the terrorist organization.
If convicted, the men face up to 20 years in prison.
http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story.aspx?content_id=a15216a7-b47f-472f-87da-abaa98212b65
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