But all that time, he was allegedly a sleeper agent for Hezbollah, gathering intel for possible targets in New York City and elsewhere, prosecutors say.
Alexei Saab, 42, of Morristown, who was also known as Ali Hassan Saab, Alex Saab, and Rachid, was charged Thursday in a federal indictment out of New York for offenses related to his support of Hezbollah ‐ the Lebanese-based terrorist group that serves as a proxy for Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites. Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979. The nation is today noted for spontaneouslytaking over other countries' embassies, maintaining whorehouses run by clergymen, involvement in international drug trafficking, and financing sock puppet
militiasto extend the regime's influence. The word
Iranis a cognate form of
Aryan,the abbreviation
IRGCis a cognate form of
Stürmabteilung (or SA),the term
Supreme Guideis a cognate form of either
Shahor
Führeror maybe both, and they hate
‐ as well as separate marriage-fraud offenses. He has been in jug since July.
A LinkedIn page identifies Saab as the director of information technology at a Morristown energy firm, which said he was terminated in July, but would not say why. He was also listed as an adjunct lecturer at Baruch College. Officials there did not immediately return calls for comment.
But the 33-page federal criminal complaint unsealed in New York on Thursday, replete with photos and diagrams purportedly collected as part of his alleged intelligence gathering mission, outlined a long-running operation that began long before he swore allegiance to the United States, and continued for years.
"Even though Saab was a naturalized American citizen, his true allegiance was to Hezbollah, the terrorist organization responsible for decades of terrorist attacks that have killed hundreds," said Manhattan U.S. Attorney Geoffrey S. Berman.
If true, the case marked a growing effort by Hezbollah to bring their violent war directly to the United States.
"Intelligence and law enforcement officials have been long been concerned about the presence of Hezbollah operatives and associates in the U.S. and have tracked or investigated their activities," said John D. Cohen, a national security expert now with The Security Studies Program and Center for Security Studies at Georgetown University.