comment by Jerry Gordon

As I commented in an email to Barbara, there is something going on in the porous northern tier of New York. Last week we posted the revelations of a Congressional investigation into cigarette smuggling from the Mohawk Reservation astride the US Canadian frontier, the profits of which were alleged to have gone to Hezbollah and Hamas. Then there were the Tonawanda Six terrorists who plotted to kill American Soldiers

by Michael Ziegler, Rochester Democrat Chronicle, May 9, 2008

A federal grand jury has indicted three Yemenis on charges of money-laundering, alleging that they transferred more than $100,000 to overseas accounts they thought were controlled by the Islamic terrorist organization Hezbollah.

The charges were filed against Yehia Ali Ahmed Alomari, 27; Mohamed Al Huraibi, 41; and Saleh Mohamed Taher Saeed, 28, who ran minimarts and a restaurant in southwest and northeast Rochester.

The indictment, handed up Wednesday, alleges money laundering and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

The three have been in federal custody since their arrest on the same charges in March 2007. They were indicted after plea negotiations failed.

If convicted, Alomari, Al Huraibi and Saeed face up to 20 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, said U.S. Attorney Terrance P. Flynn.

U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began an investigation in January 2005 after banking records showed that a Social Security number assigned to Saeed was associated with 324 overseas currency transactions totaling $12.3 million from October 2002 through November 2004.

An undercover officer from the immigration agency allegedly arranged with Alomari, Al Huraibi and Saeed from April 2005 to February 2007 to send $107,430 to overseas accounts that the officer maintained were controlled by Hezbollah, the prosecution said.

The officer allegedly told the three that the money had been earned illegally through the sale of immigration documents, food stamps, prescription drugs and counterfeit goods, the prosecution said.

Prosecutors don’t allege that Alomari, Al Huraibi and Saeed had connections to Hezbollah but accuse them of knowingly sending money to accounts they believed were controlled by the organization. The accounts were actually controlled by the federal government, and none of the money reached Hezbollah.

No charges have been filed against Saeed in connection with the overseas transfers totaling $12.3 million.

Lawyers for Alomari, Al Huraibi and Saeed have denied any wrongdoing on their clients’ behalf. They said the three transferred money overseas as a service for fellow Yemenis in Rochester and took a commission on money they sent.

MZEIGLER@DemocratandChronicle.com