(AP) FBI agent says money never went to charities SYRACUSE, N.Y. A charity founded by a Muslim doctor to help poor children in Iraq sent more than $400,000 to a clothing merchant in Jordan during its first two years of existence, according to a federal investigator. FBI Special Agent Jim Kolbe said no money raised by Help The Needy in 1995 and 1996 went to any charitable organizations, as contributors were led to believe. Instead, Kolbe told a U.S. District Court jury that all the contributions to Help The Needy in those first two years went to "commercial entities," including textile and electronic companies. Dhafir, 56, of Manlius, is on trial for conspiring to violate the then-U.S. embargo against Iraq, as well as defrauding Medicare out of $274,000 through his former Rome oncology practice. He is also accused of evading $400,000 in federal income tax payments by writing off the illegal charity donations. According to the government, Help The Needy solicited more than $5 million over the Internet and by mail between 1995 and February 2002, claiming it would help starving and oppressed Iraqis. However, the government says only about $160,000 made it to Iraq, even though the charity transferred nearly $4 million from its U.S. bank accounts to a bank in Jordan. The transfer was made under the name of Maher Zagha, one of the Help The Needy members charged along with Dhafir. Zagha remains a fugitive in Jordan. Kolbe began testifying Wednesday and continued Thursday. Defense attorney Deveraux Cannick said he would discredit Kolbe's testimony when he cross-examines him next week when the trial resumes. Kolbe also testified that false information appeared on the paperwork that Help the Needy officials submitted to the government. Among them was a phony name that Dhafir used to set up an electronic bank account at Key Bank, Kolbe said. Help the Needy's paperwork also included a phony Social Security number for one officer, fake dates of birth for others, and the tax identification number of an actual tax-exempt organization, Somali Relief Fund of Troy, Kolbe testified. The president of that company pleaded guilty to filing false tax documents to let Help the Needy hide its money. Dhafir was arrested in February 2002 in a high-profile raid, and labeled a suspected terrorist by U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft. The government, however, has since backed away from linking Dhafir to terrorism. ------------------------ Yahoo! Groups Sponsor --------------------~--> Make a clean sweep of pop-up ads. Yahoo! Companion Toolbar. Now with Pop-Up Blocker. Get it for free! http://us.click.yahoo.com/L5YrjA/eSIIAA/yQLSAA/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: [EMAIL PROTECTED] 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/
