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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend August 21, 2005 The Seda-Saudi connection How Ashland peace activist became international fugitive in war on terror By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune When Pete Seda and Soliman Al-Buthe first met in October 1997, they discovered a kindred spirit forged on opposite sides of the world. Seda was an Ashland arborist and peace activist who ran a small foundation that sent copies of the Koran to prison inmates. Al-Buthe was an agricultural engineer in Saudi Arabia. Like Seda, he worked to build bridges of understanding between the Muslim world and the West, but Al-Buthe did it through Saudi Arabia’s largest charitable group, the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation Inc. Together, Seda and Al-Buthe opened Al-Haramain’s first U.S. chapter. Eight years later, they share another, more dubious distinction — international fugitives whose alleged money-smuggling and tax-cheating activities in 2000 keep them intertwined in the Bush administration’s war on terror. Seda and Al-Buthe both are wanted for conspiring to defraud the United States in a case involving a $150,000 donation to their chapter in 2000. Advertisement Seda allegedly helped Al-Buthe parlay the donation into 130 $1,000 traveler’s checks and a $21,000 cashier’s check. Al-Buthe then brought the money to Saudi Arabia without reporting it, a violation of financial-reporting laws. "There’s no secrets here," says Tom Nelson, Al-Buthe’s Portland-based attorney. "Soliman left the United States with $130,000 of traveler’s checks he didn’t report. "He was acting as a courier," Nelson says. Al-Buthe, the Oregon chapter and other Al-Haramain chapters around the globe have been designated as supporters of terror by the U.S. Treasury Department. Nelson claims this designation and "9/11 fervor" have put what he calls the pair’s "regulatory lapses" under a federal microscope that likely would not have become trained on Seda and Al-Buthe had planes not struck the twin towers. "There is clearly an interest somewhere in the administration to appear to be doing ‘something’ about terrorism," Nelson says. "In some accounts, it’s drawing in people who have nothing to do with terrorism, like Pete and Soliman. "This wouldn’t happen if they were Hispanic," Nelson says. "They’re being targeted because they’re Muslims." Federal agents discount Nelson’s assertions, and they have laid out their criminal case against the pair in indictments and lengthy affidavits. The government has traced the $150,000 from an initial wire transfer from England to Ashland to the cache of traveler’s checks stuffed in Al-Buthe’s coat pocket on a flight from New York City to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. Prosecutors don’t make any assertions about where the money went from there, nor do they claim financing terror was a motive for Seda and Al-Buthe’s actions. The case, prosecutors say, is about how the pair broke federal money-reporting and tax laws and how they conspired to do it — not about who they are. Nelson’s assertions that the case is more about the people than their crimes is "kind of what people said about Martha Stewart," says Pamala Holsinger, chief of the criminal division in the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Portland. "We evaluate the evidence on a case-by-case basis," Holsinger says. "Clearly, that was done in this case." The ongoing legal battle leaves Seda’s supporters in Ashland still wrestling over how two men who loved trees and spoke so loudly for peace could entangle themselves, and their town, in the war on terror. "His connection with Al-Haramain has caused him far more trouble than benefit received," says David Berger, a Seda friend and adviser in Ashland. "If he had known that then I’m sure he wouldn’t have gotten into it." In some ways, Seda and Al-Buthe’s shared interests and backgrounds foreshadowed their eventual partnership. A naturalized citizen from Iran, Seda worked as an arborist and activist who preached tolerance and understanding for and by Muslims. He wrote a book called "Islam Is," which he passed around Ashland on mimeographed pages in the late 1990s. Al-Buthe has written countless articles for Middle Eastern periodicals about helping the West understand Islam. He works as the assistant director of "beautification" for Riyadh. "One of the reasons Soliman liked going out there (to Ashland) was the trees," Nelson says. After Seda’s efforts first became known in 1997 to Al-Haramain, the parent charity sent Al-Buthe with an offer the cash-strapped Seda liked. Al-Buthe asked if Seda wanted to form the first Al-Haramain chapter in the United States. It would be based in Ashland but funded by the charity. "Al-Haramain took over the funding," Berger says. "This was all initiated by Al-Haramain." Seda and Al-Buthe became friends and soon had Berger draft papers to get the new foundation chapter licensed through the Oregon Secretary of State’s Office. Together, Seda and Al-Buthe opened a bank account on behalf of the chapter at the Bank of America branch in Ashland. And with Al-Buthe came money. Nine times between his first meeting with Seda in October 1997 and his last known trip to the United States in March 2001, Al-Buthe brought in a total of $777,845. He declared the money by filling out the required Currency and Monetary Instrument Reports. These CMIRs are required by anyone crossing the U.S. border with more than $10,000 at any one time. In seven of those cases, a federal affidavit states, Al-Buthe brought in more than $10,000 worth of traveler’s checks and filled out a CMIR for them. Nelson says traveler’s checks are free in Saudi Arabia and considered an easy way to transport money out of that country. In December 1997, the chapter spent $190,162.50 to buy a house on Highway 99 in Ashland that served as Seda’s residence and the chapter headquarters, where it hosted prayer meetings and distributed books, one affidavit states. In May 2000, CMIRs show that Al-Buthe legally brought in $275,000 of foundation money, all in traveler’s checks and deposited in the chapter’s Ashland account. The next month, the chapter spent $378,291.74 for what it called a prayer house in Springfield, Mo. Part of the purchase included a cashier’s check for $318,291.74 signed by Seda and sent to a Missouri escrow company, an affidavit states. The chapter even helped spruce up and publish Seda’s book, which remains available online. But the men’s actions involving the $150,000 donation on behalf of "Muslim Brothers" in Chechnya is at the heart of their battle with the federal government. "This whole thing has a terribly sinister allure to it," Nelson says. "But if you start from Day One and travel to the end of it, it’s truly unremarkable." Federal search-warrant affidavits spell out how the government traced the various financial transactions. On Feb. 24, 2000, a Egyptian doctor named Mahmoud T. El Feki wired $150,000 from a London bank to the chapter’s Ashland bank account as a donation to help Muslims fighting Russians. Nelson says El Feki told Egyptian investigators that he chose to wire the money there after seeing an Al-Haramain Web site that suggested donations from the United States and Europe to aid Chechnyans be sent to Al-Haramain’s Ashland chapter. On March 7, Al-Buthe flew to the United States. On March 10, Al-Buthe and Seda went to the Ashland bank and received the $130,000 in $1,000 traveler’s checks and Al-Buthe received one $21,000 cashier’s check from the same bank on the next day. On March 11, the men signed an agreement saying Seda was relinquishing the donations to Al-Buthe for helping the Chechnyans. On March 12, Al-Buthe flew from New York to Saudi Arabia without declaring his possession of the money. Al-Buthe cashed the traveler’s checks March 25 at a Saudi bank, and he deposited the cashier’s check in a bank account, but the stamped date on the check was illegible to federal agents. The money, Nelson says, eventually was given to Al-Haramain officers in Saudi Arabia. In October 2001, Seda signed a 2000 tax return for the chapter in which the $150,000 donation was not reported as being sent out of the country with Al-Buthe, a move the government claims was to disguise the transfer. In February, Seda, Al-Buthe and the chapter were indicted on charges of conspiracy to defraud the United States, with Seda also charged with tax fraud. International arrest warrants were issued. If found and convicted, Seda faces up to eight years in prison and Al-Buthe faces up to 10 years in prison. Nelson says it was Al-Buthe’s first time leaving the United States with more than $10,000 and he did not know the form was required. "I wish the situation was different," Nelson says. "I wish (prosecutors) wouldn’t try to criminalize regulatory lapses. I don’t think it is criminal. I don’t think it was intentional. It has to be intentional to be criminal." However, federal documents point out that Al-Buthe has filled out CMIRs on nine different occasions. The form, agents say, states that it must be filled out when entering or leaving the country with more than $10,000. Nelson also minimizes Seda’s role in the transactions. "Pete had next to nothing to do with the Chechnya donation," Nelson says. As for the tax fraud, Nelson suggests that Seda made a simple mistake when asked about the money for tax forms 18 months after the transactions. Seda’s lawyer, Larry Matasar of Portland, did not return telephone calls seeking comment. Holsinger, from the Department of Justice, has declined to reveal what has spurred the investigation into Seda and Al-Buthe. Holsinger says she believes the case is laid out quite effectively in court records. "Obviously, our take on it is what’s in the indictment," Holsinger says. Al-Buthe remains in Saudi Arabia, which doesn’t have an extradition agreement with the United States. Federal agents believe Seda is in his native Iran, which also doesn’t have an extradition agreement. In court filings, Matasar has claimed federal attorneys are trying to strong-arm Seda into returning to plead guilty to the charges, or perhaps possibly face additional charges. "We’ve been trying to work out a situation that at least one of the two people might be able to return to the United States to face these charges head-on," Nelson says. Holsinger says it is a "mischaracterization" to claim the government is strong-arming Seda or Al-Buthe. "They have an option of coming back at any time they want," Holsinger says. "They don’t have to plead guilty. "But we don’t negotiate with fugitives to come back into the country on their terms," Holsinger says. Nelson says he hopes one day to get Seda and Al-Buthe vindicated and get the chapter’s assets unfrozen and sold. That way, the tree-loving activists from opposite ends of the world can go their separate ways and close the book on Al-Haramain’s presence in Ashland. "What we’re trying to do is, as graciously as possible, shut this thing down," Nelson says. October 1997: Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation in Saudi Arabia appoints Soliman Al-Buthe its treasurer. Al-Buthe travels to Ashland to form a chapter. December 1997: Al-Buthe buys a home at 3800 Highway 99 as a prayer house and residence for Pete Seda. February 1999: Al-Haramain incorporates its Oregon chapter through the Secretary of State’s Office, stating it "stands against terrorism, injustice, or subversive activities in any form." Seda is listed as the registered agent. February 2000: An Egyptian doctor in England wires $150,000 to the foundation’s Ashland bank account to aid Muslims in Chechnya. March 2000: Al-Buthe comes to Ashland, where he and Seda get $130,000 in traveler’s checks and a $21,000 cashier’s check. Al-Buthe takes the money to Saudi Arabia without declaring it and cashes the checks. May 2000: Al-Buthe legally transports $275,000 in traveler’s checks from Saudi Arabia to Ashland for deposit. June 2000: The foundation buys a prayer house in Springfield, Mo., for $378,291.74. Sept. 11, 2001: Al-Qaida terrorists attack the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. October 2001: Seda fails to report the $130,000 in traveler’s checks properly on the foundation’s 2000 tax return. March 2002: The U.S. Treasury Department designates six foreign Al-Haramain chapters as supporters of terrorism. March 2003: Shortly after an FBI interview, Seda leaves the United States for the United Arab Emirates. Feb. 18, 2004: Federal agents search Seda’s residence. The chapter’s assets and property are frozen a day later. June 2004: Saudi Arabia dissolves the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation. Feb. 17, 2005: Seda, Al-Buthe and the Al-Haramain Foundation’s Oregon chapter are indicted on felony charges of illegally transporting money out of the United States, tax fraud and conspiracy to defraud the United States. International arrest warrants are issued for Seda and Al-Buthe. Aug. 4, 2005: Federal attorneys file motion to dismiss charges against the foundation, and declare continuing investigations of Seda and Al-Buthe. Aug. 21, 2005: Federal agents believe Al-Buthe is in Saudi Arabia and that Seda may be in his native Iran. Neither country has extradition agreements with the United States. Reach reporter Mark Freeman at 776-4470, or e-mail The Seda-Saudi connection ">[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 Online Casino Student Loans tcg student loan consolidation Online Pharmacy Online Casino Reviews Myspace Home Equity Loans Windermere Van Vleet Rogue Valley Travel Discount Hotel Reservations Southern Oregon Loans Online Casino News Casino Gambling Sites Budget Website Templates Online Bingo Entertainment Guide Advertisement s