Angela K. Brown, Associated Press
The leader of an Islamic militant group, his wife and five brothers connected to a Dallas-area computer company were indicted on charges of money laundering and sending computers to Libya and Syria.
Attorney General John Ashcroft said the indictments demonstrated the government’s determination to shut off funds for terrorists.
“We will pursue the financiers of terror as aggressively as we pursue the thugs who do their dirty work,” Ashcroft said during a news conference at the Justice Department.
The Tuesday indictment, unsealed Wednesday, named Mousa Abu Marzook, whom Ashcroft called a leader of the Palestinian militant group Hamas, and his wife, Nadia Elashi. Both are believed to be in the Middle East.
In early-morning raids in the Dallas area, law enforcement agents arrested Infocom Vice President Ghassan Elashi, 48; the company’s chief executive, Bayan Elashi, 47; Basman Elashi, 46; and Hazim Elashi, 41. The fifth brother indicted, Ihsan Elashyi, is in custody on charges of illegally exporting computer goods to the Middle East. The company was also indicted. The brothers apparently are Nadia Elashi’s cousins.
The four arrested Wednesday appeared before U.S. Magistrate Irma Ramirez and said they had read the indictment and understood the charges.
A detention hearing was set for 2 p.m. Friday before Ramirez, despite a plea by Ghassan Elashi that “it should be today.” An arraignment was set for Jan. 10.
“I have no evidence that I’m aware of that any of these gentlemen are involved in any terrorist activities,” said their lawyer, Mike Gibson.
Tamir Ayad, executive director of the Dallas-Fort Worth chapter of the Council on American Islamic Relations, called the charges ridiculous. He said he knows all the suspects and has worked with them in various charitible events. “We are concerned that in the climate that John Ashcroft and the Department of Justice are creating that they might use secret evidence and not give these people an adequate chance to defend themselves,” Ayad said. “We are concerned that some of our liberties might be exchanged for security.’'
Ghassan Elashi also served as a director of the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a self-described Muslim charity that was shut down in December 2001 after the Treasury Department accused it of being a front for the Hamas.
The government’s case against the Holy Land Foundation _ which operated across the street from Infocom _ was based in part on a 49-page FBI report that said Hamas members met with Ghassan Elashi and other Holy Land officials in 1993 to discuss raising money for the families of suicide bombers. The report also noted a previously disclosed $210,000 donation from Marzook.
The Holy Land Foundation raised $13 million in 2000 and claimed to be the largest U.S. Muslim charity, supporting schools and social programs for Palestinians and in predominantly Muslim nations. Its Web site condemned Israel’s occupation of Gaza and the West Bank.
Hamas, an Arabic acronym for ``Islamic Resistance Movement,’' was founded in 1987 at the beginning of the first Palestinian uprising against Israel. Hamas does not accept the existence of a Jewish state in the Middle East and does not distinguish between attacks against Israelis inside Israel and in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. In contrast, Yasser Arafat’s mainstream Fatah demands a Palestinian state in the West Bank and Gaza alongside Israel.
Hamas has been responsible for many of the 85 suicide bombing attacks that have killed 307 Israelis during 26 months of fighting.
The 33-count indictment accused the Elashi brothers and Infocom of making illegal exports to Syria and Libya, money laundering, dealing in the property of a designated terrorist and making false statements.
“Today is a victorious moment in our fight to preserve freedom in our country,” said Dallas Police Chief Terrell Bolton, whose department is part of the North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force, which started investigating Infocom in 1999.
Ashcroft said the defendants could receive up to 45 years each in prison and fines up to $7.2 million if convicted.
According to the indictment, Marzook contributed money to establish both Infocom and Holy Land Foundation and was promised 40 percent of Infocom’s profits. The indictment said the company and the Elashis wired $126,250 to Marzook’s wife, with payments as late as June 2001.
At a news conference at the FBI’s Dallas-area offices, local agent-in-charge Guadalupe Gonzalez said additional sums were also sent to Marzook. He declined to comment further.
Authorities are seeking the forfeiture of the $126,250 and of $55,703 they said Infocom earned from the sales to Libya and Syria, which are highly restricted because the U.S. government has declared both countries to be sponsors of terrorism.
Marzook and the Elashi brothers attempted to conceal the shipments from the authorities, resulting in further charges, according to the indictment.
The Elashi brothers were arrested separately at their homes in Richardson and Plano. A television crew photographed Bayan Elashi, handcuffed and clad in a T-shirt and striped pajamas, being led out his front door by several agents.
Fairuz Elashi, Hazim Elashi’s wife, said agents came to her family’s house in Plano about 7 a.m.
“They just knocked and came in and arrested him. We were not expecting anything like this,” she said. She said Hazim, who also once worked at Holy Land as an engineer, denied ever raising money for terrorists.