A federal grand jury has brought money-laundering charges against three Yemeni men for allegedly transferring money into overseas accounts they believed were controlled by the Islamic terrorist organization Hezbollah.
The charges were brought against Yehia Ali Ahmed Alomari, 27; Mohamed Al Huraibi, 41; and Saleh Mohamed Taher Saeed, 28, who ran mini-marts in southwest and northeast Rochester.
The indictment, handed up Wednesday, alleges money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.
The three were arrested in March 2007 and are in federal custody. They were indicted after attempts at plea negotiations failed.
If convicted, Alomari, Al Huraibi and Saeed face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn said.
The U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began an investigation in January 2005 after banking records showed that a Social Security number assigned to Saeed was associated with 324 overseas currency transactions totaling $12.3 million from October 2002 through November 2004.
An undercover officer from the immigration agency allegedly arranged with Alomari, Al Huraibi and Saeed to send $100,000 to overseas accounts which the officer maintained were controlled by Hezbollah, the prosecution said. The officer claimed the money had been earned through illegal activities, the prosecution said.
The charges don’t allege that Alomari, Al Huraibi and Saeed had connections to Hezbollah, but knowingly sent money to accounts they believed were controlled by the organization. The accounts were actually controlled by the federal government.
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080508/NEWS01/80508022/1002/NEWS
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