InfoAnda - Middle Eastern Money Transfer System Investigated in Times Square Bomb Case

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Home U.S. World Entertainment Sports Business Health Science Technology Politics Offbeat Environment Travel News Articles Middle Eastern Money Transfer System Investigated in Times Square Bomb Case Email Facebook Digg Twitter Buzz Up! ShareThis May 14, 2010 5:51 p.m. EST Topics: unrest, conflicts and war, act of terror, crime, police, terrorism, crime, law and justice, investigation, United States Tom Ramstack - AHN News Correspondent New York City, New York, United States (AHN) - Police are investigating whether a funding system that dates from the 15th century in the Middle East helped the accused Times Square bombing suspect. Three men arrested Thursday by the FBI are suspected of helping funnel money to pay for the explosives and car bomb that was defused by police in New York last week. They face a first court appearance early next week. They are being held on immigration charges as the investigation continues. They were identified as Pir Khan and Aftab Khan, both of whom were arrested in Massachusetts, and Mohamad Rahman, who was arrested in Maine. All three are natives of Pakistan. Police are investigating whether they helped attempted bombing suspect Faisal Shahzad pay for the bomb and SUV that concealed it by using a “hawala” funding network of brokers who operate under a trust system. The hawala system avoids traditional money transfers that could be traced by police. The system is most commonly used by foreign workers to send remittances home or by parents to send money to their children studying abroad. Law enforcement officials say hawala systems are used increasingly by terrorists to hide their activities. “Hawala is a popular value transfer method that predates the Western financial system and remains less expensive, and at times more widely available, than modern banking for transmitting legitimate funds around the world,” wrote John Rollins, a terrorism expert for the Congressional Research Service, in a March report on crime that crosses international borders. The money transfers begin when a person in one country visits a hawala broker and tells him he wants to send funds to someone in another country. The person ordering the transfer gives the money to the broker plus a 5 percent commission. The broker then contacts a second hawala broker in the other country. The second broker pays the money to the person designated to receive it. No money is transferred between the countries. Instead, the second broker carries the debt until someone in his own country wants to make a money transfer. Then the second broker receives the money plus the commission and the process begins again in reverse. Hawala brokers are supposed to get licenses in the United States but few of them make the effort. Although the three men arrested Thursday do not deny participating in a hawala money transfer that might have been used by bombing suspect Shahzad, they have not admitted participating in a terrorist conspiracy. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) said no direct connection has been proven between the main arrested in Maine and Shahzad. Police continue to investigate whether the money transfer originated in Pakistan or another Middle Eastern country. With the net tightening around traditional bank transfers, terrorist organizations have few other alternatives than hawala to fund their operations, according to terrorism experts. “First and foremost, there is al Qaeda, which is now in the worst financial shape it has been in for years,” said David Cohen, the U.S. Treasury Department’s assistant secretary for terrorist financing, in a speech last month to the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Private donation and Persian Gulf countries’ funding for al Qaeda has dried up in recent years under intense international pressure, he said. News reports indicate al Qaeda has been making public pleas for money and charging recruits for their weapons. Groups affiliated with al Qaeda rely less on a centralized funding network, Cohen said. “These al Qaeda affiliates instead have taken up independent fundraising activities to sustain themselves, including drug trafficking, kidnapping for ransom and extortion,” he said. However, other alleged terrorist organizations, such as the Taliban and Hamas, are well-financed, Cohen said. Copyright © 2003 - 2010 AHN - All rights reserved.Redistribution, republication. syndication, rewriting or broadcast is prohibited without the prior written consent of AHN.License AHN news for your website, business, digital signage network or publication. 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