wmlro.com: US car parts dealer admits funding al Qaeda
A car parts dealer in Kansas, Missouri, USA, has admitted providing funding for al Qaida.
32 year old Khalid Ouazzani has admitted that he applied for a bank loan saying it was for business purposes but instead sent the money to the UAE where it was used to purchase a flat. Born in Morocco, and naturalised in the USA, he took out the loan just a year after becoming a US citizen say prosecutors.
But he also went further, sending a total of approx USD23,500 to al Qaida through a variety of channels for about a year starting in mid 2007.
Ouazzani waived his rights to have his case brought before a grand jury and instead pleaded guilty.
A federal information charges him with conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organisation.
Ouazzani has entered into a plea agreement - which the Court will consider.
In that agreement he admits that he borrowed the sum of USD175,000 saying it was for his business Hafssa LLC trading as Truman Used Auto Parts from Union Bank. He provided false information to support the loan application and his own personal guarantee to the company's borrowings.The total line of credit available to him was USD181,000. He withdrew that in a series of transactions and put most of that money into an account in his name with Bank of America. Then a substantial part of that money was transferred to the UAE. He defaulted having paid back only USD13,000 and Union obtained an order for recovery but eventually wrote off the loan as unrecoverable.
Amongst the transactions were the payment of just under USD113,000 to New World Star Real Estate with Haabib Bank in Dubai.
It is admitted that he and others conspired to find ways to provide support for al Qaida.
He is charged with 23 counts including providing material report to a proscribed organisation, bank and wire fraud and money laundering.
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