Imam at center of corruption case pleads guilty to four counts By DAVID B. CARUSO Associated Press Writer PHILADELPHIA A politically connected Muslim cleric pleaded guilty to four counts of tax evasion Wednesday, just before his trial began on dozens of other counts.
Shamsud-din Ali, the leader of a West Philadelphia mosque, is a major figure in the indictments filed by federal prosecutors as part of a sweeping investigation that involved surveillance of several city officials, including the mayor. Prosecutors said he siphoned tens of thousands of dollars from a religious school associated with his mosque. He also accepted payments from drug dealers who thought they were contributing to the school, prosecutors said. During his plea hearing, Ali continued to deny that he took drug money or money from the school that wasn't due him. He acknowledged, however, that he had income from the school and his business that he didn't report to the government and that he had never paid taxes on. Opening statements for a trial on the other charges were to begin later Wednesday afternoon. Ali, known for his close ties to city Democrats, paid kickbacks to obtain no-work city contracts and used his connections to extort money from city vendors, prosecutors have said. He is also charged with threatening to use his political connections to have a businessman's sludge-hauling contract canceled unless he paid them a $25,000 "bonus." The case against Ali is based partly on FBI wiretaps installed as part of a series of related corruption investigations. The probe was made public when police discovered an FBI bug in Mayor John F. Street's office. Street has not been charged. The U.S. attorney has said Ali was able to get what he wanted because people believed he had the ear of city leaders, including Street. 050420 203341 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> DonorsChoose. A simple way to provide underprivileged children resources often lacking in public schools. Fund a student project in NYC/NC today! http://us.click.yahoo.com/EHLuJD/.WnJAA/cUmLAA/TySplB/TM --------------------------------------------------------------------~-> -------------------------- Want to discuss this topic? Head on over to our discussion list, [EMAIL PROTECTED] -------------------------- Brooks Isoldi, editor [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.intellnet.org Post message: osint@yahoogroups.com Subscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Unsubscribe: [EMAIL PROTECTED] *** FAIR USE NOTICE. This message contains copyrighted material whose use has not been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. OSINT, as a part of The Intelligence Network, is making it available without profit to OSINT YahooGroups members who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information in their efforts to advance the understanding of intelligence and law enforcement organizations, their activities, methods, techniques, human rights, civil liberties, social justice and other intelligence related issues, for non-profit research and educational purposes only. We believe that this constitutes a 'fair use' of the copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law. If you wish to use this copyrighted material for purposes of your own that go beyond 'fair use,' you must obtain permission from the copyright owner. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/osint/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to: http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
