Lots of that going on...with Muslims. B
Wife of La Shish owner pleads guilty to citizenship fraud November 28, 2007 By DAVID ASHENFELTER FREE PRESS STAFF WRITER The wife of the fugitive owner of a Dearborn restaurant chain pleaded guilty in federal court today to charges that she obtained her U.S. citizenship illegally. Elfat El Aouar, 40, of Plymouth, who is serving 18 months in prison for helping her husband evade $6.9 million in federal taxes on his La Shish restaurants, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn. <http://cmsimg.freep.com/apps/pbcsi.dll/bilde?Site=C4&Date=20071128&Category =NEWS02&ArtNo=71128056&Ref=AR> photo Under the terms of the plea agreement, the Lebanese-born El Aouar agreed to give up her U.S. citizenship and face possible deportation after she completes her prison time. The new offenses, conspiring to defraud the United States and naturalization fraud, expose her to a possible 11 months in prison. The time would run concurrent with the tax evasion sentence. El Aouar is the wife of Talal Chahine, 55, who fled to Lebanon in September 2005 to avoid prosecution in the tax scheme. In 1990, before marrying Chahine, she offered money to a U.S. citizen to marry her so she could remain in the United States and obtain citizenship. She later divorced him. She married Chahine in 2000. El Aouar is charged in the same case as her sister, Nada Nadim Prouty, 37 of Vienna, Va., who obtained her U.S. citizenship through a fraudulent marriage and parlayed it into jobs as an FBI agent and CIA operative. Prouty twice accessed an FBI computer system she wasn't authorized to use to find out whether she, her sister or Chahine were being investigated by the FBI and to learn details about a Detroit-based investigation of Hizballah, a Lebanese group designated in 1997 as a foreign terrorist organization. It's unclear what Prouty did with the information. Authorities suspect she may have shared it with Chahine. The case brought calls in Congress for an investigation of why multiple background checks failed to reveal her fraudulent marriage. Prouty agreed in a plea hearing two weeks ago to be stripped of her U.S. citizenship and accept a deportation order, although authorities have no plans to remove her given her knowledge of the FBI and CIA. In May, a third sister, Dr. Rula Nadim El Aouar, 36, of Dearborn Heights, was charged with naturalization fraud. The government said she arranged a fraudulent marriage to stay in the United States after her visa expired in 1992. The charges were dismissed in September, a frequent practice so investigators can continue digging. Elfat El Aouar was sentenced to 18 months in prison in May for her role in helping her husband evade federal income taxes from 2001-2005. She holds a master's degree in Business Administration and kept two sets of books at the business. Prosecutors said Chahine sent the money to Lebanon. In October, federal immigration official Roy Bailey was indicted in Detroit on charges of taking bribes from Chahine who allegedly conspired to use Bailey's position to extort more than $260,000 from La Shish employees from 1999-2003. The IRS has filed documents to prevent Chahine from selling the restaurant chain until it collects back taxes. The government said Chahine is a supporter of Hizballah, which the U.S. State Department designated as a foreign terrorist group in 1997. Federal prosecutors have a photo of Chahine seated next to Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, whom they describe as Hizballah's spiritual leader, at a fundraising event in Lebanon in 2002. The government says Fadlallah issued the fatwa -- an Islamic legal opinion -- that allowed Hizballah to blow up the Marine barracks in Beirut, Lebanon in 1983, killing 241 Americans. Chahine and Fadlallah were keynote speakers at the fundraising event, prosecutors said. Contact DAVID ASHENFELTER at 313-223-4490 or [EMAIL PROTECTED] <http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]> . Find this article at: http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Dato=20071128 <http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/artikkel?Dato=20071128&Kategori=NEWS02&L openr=71128056&Ref=AR&Show=0> &Kategori=NEWS02&Lopenr=71128056&Ref=AR&Show=0 _____ U.S. Department of Justice http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/mie/press/2007/2007-10-3_rbailey.pdf Stephen J. Murphy United States Attorney Eastern District of Michigan Suite 2001 211 West Fort Street Detroit, Michigan 48226-3277 Fax: (313) 226-3561 For Immediate Release: Contact: Gina Balaya (313) 226-9758 Oct 3, 2007 EVENT: Indictment Defendant: Roy M. Bailey et al IMMIGRATION OFFICIAL ONE OF FIVE DEFENDANTS CHARGED WITH BRIBERY, EXTORTION AND CONSPIRACY A high-ranking official with the Detroit office of the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency ("ICE"), formerly known as the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and four other metro-Detroit men were indicted by a federal Grand Jury with multiple counts of bribery, conspiracy and extortion, United States Attorney Stephen J. Murphy announced today. U.S. Attorney Murphy was joined in the announcement by Thomas M. Frost, Special Agent in Charge of the Chicago, Illinois office of the Department of Homeland Security - Office of Inspector General, and Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit, Michigan, office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Named in the Superseding Indictment were: ROY M. BAILEY, age 54, of Romulus, Michigan, ANTONIO IVEZAJ, age 39, of Milford, Michigan, TALAL KHALIL CHAHINE, age 52, formerly of Plymouth, Michigan, MOHAMAD ARZOUNI, age 59 of Dearborn Heights, Michigan; and MOHAMMAD BAZZI, age 61, formerly of Detroit, Michigan. The indictment charges BAILEY with misusing his position as the Assistant District Director with INS and, thereafter, as the Field Office Director at DHS-ICE by accepting large sums of currency and other property in return for granting immigration benefits, including the release of several individuals who were being kept in the custody of INS and DHS-ICE. U.S. Attorney Murphy announced that the charges were unsealed today followed an extensive, multi-year investigation into corruption activities at the Detroit offices of the INS and, thereafter, ICE. ANTONIO IVEZAJ, the owner of TMI Construction Company in Ferndale, Michigan, was charged with paying in excess of $5,000.00 and providing free residential construction services to BAILEY in exchange for IVEZAJ's release from INS custody. ANTONIO IVEZAJ and ROY BAILEY were further charged with conspiring to arrange for a $50,000.00 bribe paid to release a second individual from ICE custody. Also charged in the Superseding Indictment was TALAL KHALIL CHAHINE, the owner of the La Shish restaurant chain. CHAHINE and BAILEY were charged with conspiring to use BAILEY's position at INS and at DHS-ICE to extort money from former employees of the La Shish restaurant business. In May of 2006, CHAHINE was charged in a separate investigation with criminal tax evasion. Since the time those charges were made public, CHAHINE has failed to return to the United States and is believed to be living as a fugitive in the country of Lebanon. The Superseding Indictment also charged BAILEY and CHAHINE, along with ARZOUNI and BAZZI, with conspiring to defraud the United States by obtaining immigration benefits, including permanent resident status, through the use of false marriages arranged with other La Shish employees who were U.S. citizens. BAILEY was further charged with failing to report and refer to the proper authorities the theft of over $300,000.00 in property from criminal aliens who were being housed at the INS/ICE detention facility in Monroe, Michigan. In January of 2006, PATRICK WYNNE, a former ICE Detention Officer, was sentenced to a prison term of 57 months for his role in the thefts of alien property at the Monroe detention facility. United States Attorney Stephen Murphy said, "Corruption on the order and degree alleged in today's Grand Jury Indictment is very serious, because it amounts to the selling of one's office. While this matter appears to be an isolated incident, prosecution will be nevertheless be pursued with the utmost and thorough-going professionalism because no one is above the law." Mr. Murphy also commended the agents from DHS-OIG and FBI for conducting an exhaustive and thorough investigation. Special Agent in Charge Frost stated, "Acts of corruption within the Department of Homeland Security represent a threat to our nation and undermine the legitimacy of the immigration process. This indictment should serve to reassure the public that such conduct will not be tolerated, and that the Office of Inspector General, in partnership with the US Attorney's Office and the FBI, will work tirelessly to end corruption and bring offenders to justice." Special Agent in Charge Arena advised, "Public corruption is a top investigative priority of the FBI and we will aggressively investigate individuals who abuse their position in a government office for private gain." The subject charges returned against defendant ROY M. BAILEY carry total penalties of up to 68 years in prison and fines of over $1 million. The charges returned against ANTONIO IVEZAJ carry total penalties of up to 20 years in prison and fines of up to $500,000.00 The charges returned against TALAL KHALIL CHAHINE carry total penalties of up to 25 years in prison and fine of up to $500,000.00 The charges against MOHAMAD ARZOUNI and MOHAMMAD BAZZI carry total penalties of up to 5 years in prison and fines of up to $250,000. An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. Each defendant is entitled to a fair trial in which it will be the government's burden to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The case was investigated by special agents of the Department of Homeland Security Office of Inspector General and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bruce C. Judge. 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