Document text
Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend February 20, 2004 Ashland activist denies laundering funds By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune Federal agents believe Ashland peace activist Pete Seda helped launder foreign money through his Ashland-based Islamic foundation, and that his co-founder then smuggled at least $130,000 out of the country to help Muslims embroiled in a holy war in Chechnya in 2000. But saying he’s a "man of peace," Seda denied the allegations Thursday through his Portland attorney, who said he expects Seda to be fully exonerated. A federal search warrant affidavit obtained Thursday by the Mail Tribune reveals allegations involving Seda and his branch of the Muslim charitable organization Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc., which the federal government says aids terrorists — including Osama bin Laden’s al-Qaida network — through other chapters worldwide. In the affidavit, Internal Revenue Service agents claim that in March 2000, Seda helped secure 130 traveler’s checks for $1,000 each from a foundation account at an Ashland bank. Two days later, Soliman Al-Buthe, Al-Haramain’s Saudi lawyer and Seda’s co-founder of the foundation’s Ashland chapter, smuggled the checks to Saudi Arabia, the affidavit claims. The affidavit, however, also states that Seda signed a document releasing the money — which investigators say came from a Saudi doctor — to Al-Buthe specifically for aiding Chechen refugees. Advertisement The federal Treasury Department accuses Al-Buthe and Seda — an outspoken critic of violence in the name of Islam — of possible violations of tax laws as well as the Money Laundering Control Act and the Bank Secrecy Act. Treasury officials Thursday moved to block the Ashland chapter’s assets pending further review. While the IRS affidavit refers to terrorism, its accusations focus on financial-reporting crimes but no crimes involving terrorism. The affidavit also does not say exactly where agents believe the smuggled money eventually went. The IRS does claim Seda lied about the money in the foundation’s 2000 tax return, reporting that the $130,000 went toward the purchase of a prayer house in Springfield, Mo. The government suspects the pair acted in such a way to avoid government scrutiny and retain the foundation’s tax-exempt status as a charitable organization, the affidavit states. The allegations could lead to violations of federal tax and financial-reporting laws, felonies together punishable by up to 13 years in prison. Seda’s lawyer, Larry Matasar of Portland, said Thursday that Seda is not the probe’s target and that he expects Seda, who remains out of the country, will be exonerated. "As late as Tuesday afternoon, I was assured by an assistant U.S. attorney that Pete was not the target of a criminal investigation," Matasar said. "I believe, once the investigation is complete, the government will conclude that no crime was committed (by Seda)." A Wednesday search by federal agents of the foundation’s U.S. headquarters in Ashland targeted financial documents that federal agents believe bolster their case against Seda and Al-Buthe involving the March 2000 transactions. Agents also were looking for any information that could reveal whether the pair took part in similar schemes to funnel international donations through the Ashland office without reporting the transactions, in violation of federal law. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Cardani in Eugene issued a statement Thursday acknowledging the search of the foundation’s U.S. offices at 3800 S. Highway 99, Ashland. Matasar said agents seized financial records, computers and other materials but he declined to be specific. Matasar said Seda has cooperated with authorities throughout the investigation, and that he has given government agents more financial documents than they have requested. Matasar said he was surprised by Wednesday’s raid, but declined to say whether the search meant government agents do not believe Seda has been completely forthright with them. "That’s a question for Mr. Cardani," Matasar said. Cardani did not return telephone calls Thursday seeking comment. Matasar released a statement Thursday that he said came from Seda, who refers to the foundation’s Ashland branch as Al-Haramain Oregon. "I am a man of peace, and have consistently and actively opposed terrorism," the message states. "I am certain that once all the facts come out, it will be clear that neither al-Haramain Oregon nor I have engaged in any criminal activities. Al-Haramain Oregon and I have always remained true to the educational and charitable purposes of the charity." Matasar said Seda, who told the Mail Tribune last September that he left for the United Arab Emirates to seek work as an arborist and to work on peace issues, remains abroad. Matasar declined to say where he believed Seda was living. Matasar said that to his knowledge, there is no arrest warrant issued for Seda. As outlined in the 34-page affidavit by Medford-based IRS Special Agent Colleen Anderson, the case against Seda and Al-Buthe now swirls around a series of events in March 2000 and its links to Chechnya’s war of independence with Russia. At the time, Muslim extremists were reportedly flocking to Chechnya, where they believed a holy war, or jihad, was being waged against Russian infidels. News accounts last year claimed the goal of the Arabs there was to merge Chechnya and nearby Dagestan to create an Islamic state. A December 2003 U.S. News and World Report article said U.S. officials concluded that international chapters of the Saudi Arabia-based Al-Haramain Foundation were bankrolling terrorists worldwide. The article also stated that Russian officials suspected the parent foundation was responsible for giving $1 million to rebels and arranged the purchase of 500 heavy weapons from the Taliban. On Feb. 24, 2000, a Egyptian doctor named Mahmoud T. El Feki wired $149,985 from London to Al-Haramain’s account controlled by Seda and Al-Buthe at Bank of America’s Ashland branch, the affidavit states. On March 7, Al-Buthe flew from Saudi Arabia to America, and told customs agents he was headed to Ashland for business. On March 10, Al-Buthe accompanied Seda and Seda’s son, Jonah, to the Ashland bank, where Al-Buthe allegedly withdrew $130,000 of El Feki’s money and asked for it in 130 individual traveler’s checks for $1,000 apiece, the affidavit claims. When a bank employee told Seda the branch did not have that many checks on hand and urged him to take a cashier’s check, Seda allegedly told the employee that the money was going to help people who can’t cash a cashier’s check, the affidavit states. Eventually, the bank issued all 130 checks and charged the pair $1,300 for the transaction, the affidavit states. The next day, Seda returned to the bank, withdrew the remainder of El Feki’s deposit and bought a $21,000 cashier’s check issued to Al-Buthe, according to the affidavit. Both men then signed two agreements releasing Seda from all responsibility for the money, and that the money was for the "brothers and sisters of Chechnya," the affidavit states. On March 12, Al-Buthe flew from New York back to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, without filing federal Currency and Monetary Instrument Reports required when taking more than $10,000 in or out of the United States at any given time. Failing to do so can lead to a felony charge, and a conviction in a case involving more than $100,000 is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Al-Buthe told the Wall Street Journal Thursday that he was unaware of the U.S. reporting law. "I never knew that when you are leaving the U.S. there is a rule you have to declare it," he said. "That money was for refugees, nothing more than that. I delivered it myself to the fund-raiser for refugees in Saudi Arabia." Al-Buthe’s comments were to appear today in the journal. A federal analysis of the actual traveler’s checks shows that Al-Buthe cashed them around March 25 at a Saudi bank, while the cashier’s check was deposited in what agents believe is Al- Buthe’s personal account at the same Saudi bank, the affidavit states. "I believe Seda attempted to disguise the true disposition of the $150,000 ... in order to prevent law enforcement and/or the IRS from scrutinizing the transaction," special agent Anderson wrote in her affidavit. The affidavit also states that Al-Buthe traveled to and from the United States 13 times between October 1997 and April 2001, filling out the required CMIRs nine times while declaring the transport of $777,845 into the United States. Of those nine, seven involved traveler’s checks, and none were for money leaving the United States, according to the affidavit. Government agents also accused Seda of intentionally hiding the transactions from the foundation’s accountant at the time, Tom Wilcox of Medford. The affidavit states that Seda claimed in the foundation’s 2000 tax return that the $131,300 — the amount of the traveler’s checks and the Bank of America fee — was for part of the purchase of the prayer house in Missouri. Seda also gave Wilcox records saying the Springfield house cost $461,541.71, but real estate documents obtained by the IRS reveal that the actual purchase price was $378,291.74, according to the affidavit. Reached Thursday, Wilcox declined comment. A conviction on the tax charge involving a charitable organization could lead to a three-year prison term and a loss of tax-exempt status. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions | Website Feedback www.bingo.com Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker dvd-r Distance Education Computer Security Ztech Media Hosting Sports Equipment Student Loans Online Pharmacy tcg student loan consolidation Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Deep Muscle Stimulator Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Salvia Divinorum Online Casino Fundraisers Advertisement s