A prominent US Muslim political activist, who helped the Pentagon set up its Islamic chaplain program, was charged Thursday with having had financial dealings with Libya, the Justice Department said.
| Oh, I am so surprised! Quick, Ethel! My pills!... No, the orange ones! |
Abdurahman Alamoudi, of Falls Church, Virginia, was charged in an 18-count indictment handed down by a federal grand jury in Alexandria, Virginia, said Paul J. McNulty, US Attorney for the Eastern District of Virginia. McNulty said the charges against Alamoudi, a 51-year-old native of Eritrea, included prohibited financial transactions with Libya, money laundering, misuse of a passport and unlawful procurement of US naturalized citizenship.
| "Other than that, he seems to be clean..." |
An energetic advocate of Islamic causes, Alamoudi founded the American Muslim Council, the American Muslim Foundation as well as the American Muslim Armed Forces and Veterans Affairs Council, a group that helped create an Islamic chaplain program in the US military.
| And we saw how well that worked... |
The chaplain program has come under intense scrutiny since the September 10 arrest on suspicion of espionage of US Army Captain James Yee, a Muslim chaplain who worked with al-Qaeda and Taliban suspects at the US prison camp in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
| Ummm... Yeah. That's what I meant... |
The indictment handed down Thursday, which carries a maximum penalty of 105 years' imprisonment on conviction, alleges that "from November 1995 to September 2003, Alamoudi devised a scheme to obtain money from Libya and other sources overseas." That money, it alleges, was intended "for transmission into the United States without attracting the attention of" various federal agencies, including the Treasury Department, Internal Revenue Service, Bureau of Immigration and Naturalization and Department of Homeland Security. "The purpose of this scheme was to hide the amount of money he controlled, how and where he obtained it and what he did with the money," said the indictment.
| I wonder what he intended to do with all that dough? |
It alleges that on August 13, 2003 "Alamoudi received a phone call at his hotel in London, England, from a person with a Libyan accent who stated he had 'something' for Alamoudi.
| "For me? Oh, you shouldn't have!" |
"Almoudi received from the individual a briefcase containing 340,000 dollars ... which he transferred to his own luggage, leaving the briefcase behind.
| "I'll just put it in here with my socks and underwear. No one will notice..." |
The indictment "identifies the source of the cash as the Islamic Call Society, a branch of the Government of Libya," McNulty said in a statement.
| Is that part of the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunicaitons? "Hello? Operator? I'd like to make an Islamic call, please... Yes. It'll be collect..." |
Federal authorities said last month that Alamoudi was arrested on September 28 at Washington's Dulles International Airport upon his return from an extended overseas trip and made a brief appearance in federal court in Alexandria the following day. According to the indictment, Alamoudi "attempted to transport the 340,000 dollars out of England, to deposit it in banks in Saudi Arabia and attempted" to transfer it into the United States "while evading currency reporting requirements."
| Tusk. Tusk. You can get some serious jug time for that sort of thing. Like 105 years. Shoulda just bumped somebody off... |
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