By Paul Nowell, The Associated Press
CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- Federal officials are holding a Pakistani citizen arrested last month after a police officer spotted him videotaping the 60-story Bank of America headquarters and another skyscraper in downtown Charlotte.
Kamran Akhtar, 35, was arrested July 20 after a police officer took him in for questioning. Immigration charges against him were contained in indictments unsealed Tuesday in federal court.
Besides the Charlotte skyscrapers, videotapes found in his possession included footage of buildings in Atlanta, Houston, Dallas, New Orleans and Austin, Texas, as well as transit systems in those cities and a dam in Texas, according to a federal criminal complaint filed last week.
In New Orleans, Mayor Ray Nagin declined comment, saying the local U.S. Attorney had asked him not to say anything.
Akhtar is charged with violating federal immigration and naturalization laws and making a materially false statement, according to a news release by U.S. Attorney Gretchen Shappert.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Carl Horn ordered Akhtar held in federal custody at a brief hearing Tuesday morning in federal court; he had been in the custody of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
He was being held Tuesday at the Mecklenburg County Jail pending a detention hearing scheduled for Friday.
Shappert’s office listed Akhtar as a resident of the New York City borough of Queens and said he also went under the name Kamran Shaikh.
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Chief Darrell Stephens said Akhtar told Officer Anthony Maglione at the time of his arrest that he was making videotapes for family members.
Maglione said Akhtar’s behavior indicated otherwise.
At a news conference Tuesday, the officer described Akhtar’s actions as “evasive” when the officer approached to ask him what he was doing as he filmed with his video camera around noon on a weekday. Maglione said Akhtar walked away when he tried to approach.
“His statements were all over the place, from taking these videos for his brother to visiting around town,” Maglione said. “He said he had to hurry up and get back to the bus station” even though Akhtar was headed away from the downtown bus terminal.
A federal affidavit unsealed Tuesday said a review of the tape in Akhtar’s camera and others in his possession showed film of the Bank of America tower, the signature building on the Charlotte skyline, and a prominent, 32-story downtown skyscraper that Wachovia Bank once leased. The local FBI office is located in the building.
Wachovia no longer leases the latter building, and no bank employees work there, said Wachovia spokeswoman Carrie Ruddy.
Mayor Pat McCrory said Charlotte residents and workers in the city’s busy financial district, which is headquarters to the two big banks, should not alter their routine.
“People working in the center city should continue to go to work and go on with their everyday actions,” McCrory said.
In a statement, Bank of America said it “continues to conduct business as usual.
“All necessary security measures are being taken and our company continues to work closely with appropriate national and local authorities to monitor this situation,” the bank said.
Wachovia said it was assessing the information about the videotape. The bank also said that it has “robust security procedures in place and have taken measures to enhance security at all of our facilities over the last several years.”
According to an affidavit by John Scott Sherrill, a federal immigration agent, Akhtar’s videotapes showed what appeared to be the Mansfield Dam in Austin and public transportation systems such as Atlanta’s MARTA and trolleys in Houston, Dallas and New Orleans
The affidavit said the camera was turned sideways at times to film an entire building, and frequently zoomed in on street signs.
Stephens said police have not yet been able to dismiss Akhtar as a simple tourist.
“This is one that will require more investigation, to determine just what he was doing with these tapes,” the police chief said.
According to court documents, when Akhtar was asked about his immigration status, he allegedly said he had a “green card,” which his wife had obtained for him in 1997. He said he was born in Karachi, Pakistan, and entered the United States illegally in 1991 by crossing in from Mexico.
A review of his immigration file found he did not have a green card and was in the country illegally. He applied for political asylum in 1992 and was denied in 1997.
Asked why police kept the arrest Akhtar’s arrest secret until Tuesday, Stephens said police were trying to determine whether he was just a tourist.
“It was business as usual. He was observed engaged in unusual activity by a police officer and he was arrested,” Stephens said.
Last week, federal officials issued urgent terror warnings, saying they had uncovered information in Pakistan that indicated five financial institutions in New York, Washington and Newark, N.J., were potential targets.
Bush administration officials have said a new stream of intelligence has indicated al-Qaeda wants to strike financial institutions.
The FBI has issued repeated warnings that al-Qaeda operatives are likely to conduct surveillance of potential targets, including videotaping, far in advance of any attack.
In a bulletin issued last Tuesday to the private sector and operators of key infrastructure such as dams and nuclear reactors, the FBI and Homeland Security Department urged that authorities be contacted if anyone appears to be showing “uncommon interest” in these facilities, including “photographing or videotaping assets.”