Sheik guilty of funding Hamas
Sheik Mohammed Ali Hasan Al-Moayad and his assistant were arrested in 2003 in Germany after an undercover operation that involved two FBI informants. The FBI bugged a hotel room where the sheik and the informants met. Sheik Al-Moayad promised to funnel $2 million to Hamas and al-Qaida in return for financial support for a bakery and charities in Yemen; he also boasted about his connections to Bin Laden, such as being his spiritual advisor. At that time, Ali was described as ‘finance chief’ ‘for both Al Qaeda and Hamas.
One of the informers asked the FBI $10 million for his assistance. He ended up cashing $100,000 although he tried (foolishly) to get more money by setting himself on fire in Washington. Anyhow, the informer described Al-Moayad as a dedicated funder of terrorism who boasted of giving bin Laden $20 million in the years before the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Al-Moayad’s and his assistant’s (Zayed) trial had taken place in Brooklyn because they were accused of raising money for al Qaeda and Hamas at a local mosque. Al-Moyad told the feds his support was tied to bin Laden’s fight against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan and that their relationship soured after that conflict ended. Bin Laden reportedly issued a “fatwah” calling for Al-Moayad’s death after he publicly criticized Bin Laden. Al-Moayad and his assistant were convicted of conspiring to provide “material support” to al Qaeda and Hamas. Al-Moayad was sentenced to 75 years behind bars, and Zayed got 45 years.
A jury this week cleared al-Moayad of supporting al-Qaida but convicted him and Zayed of conspiring to help Hamas. How did this happen? A plea deal in federal court. Al-Moayad and Zayed pleaded guilty to conspiring to support violence by the Palestinian militant group Hamas. In exchange, they were sentenced to time served (more than six years) and will be sent back to Yemen within a few days.
Al-Moayad, 60, responded, “Yes,” when asked by the judge if he knew Hamas engaged in “politically motivated acts of violence targeting civilian populations,” and that he “associated and worked with Hamas leaders in Yemen and Hamas-related organizations to provide financial support to Hamas.”
http://financialcrimeonline.com/archives/282
http://www.nypost.com/seven/10032008/news/regionalnews/qaedas_break_131955.htm
http://fl1.findlaw.com/news.findlaw.com/hdocs/docs/terrorism/almoyadazind.pdf
