Document text
60 °F Forecast | Road Cams Saturday, May 0, 2005 Today's News | Shop Our Valley | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery | Contact Us SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Menu Guide How To Guide Health Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Real Estate Guide Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Passport to the Rogue Valley SHOP OUR VALLEY AutoFinder HomeFinder JobFinder Classified Place an ad TOP JOBS EXTRA Ashland News NIE Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People Volunteer Moving here? eSouthernOregon CUSTOMER SERVICE FAQ's Advertise with us Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend April 30, 2005 Federal counts await activist By MARK FREEMAN Mail Tribune The government is trying to strong-arm global fugitive Pete Seda into surrendering and pleading guilty to money-laundering and tax-cheat charges stemming from a terrorism investigation into his Ashland-based Islamic charity, court filings allege. In a legal declaration filed in federal court, defense attorney Larry Matasar claims Seda is willing to voluntarily return to the United States to "face the charges" against him in a Feb. 17 federal indictment. The indictment also lists the Oregon chapter of the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation, which he founded, and Seda’s fellow chapter officer, Soliman Al- Buthe. "But the government has not offered to allow him to do so," Matasar wrote in the notarized document signed April 14. Instead, Matasar asserts, the U.S. government expects Seda to return only to plead guilty to three federal counts, for which he could receive up to seven years in prison. "It has further informed me that if (Seda) voluntarily returned to the United States to contest these charges, it would seek an indictment against him on other (and potentially far more serious) charges," Matasar states. Advertisement Reached by telephone in his Portland office, Matasar declined to discuss his allegations. Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Cardani, the main prosecutor in the case and the only prosecutor named in Matasar’s declaration, did not return telephone calls seeking comment Friday. Other federal prosecutors involved in the case declined Friday to discuss specifics. "We’d love to see him return," said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Barry Sheldahl in Portland. "But no, he’s not offered to return." Sheldahl declined to say whether federal authorities were actively looking for Seda, also known as Pirouz Sedaghaty, or where agents believe he may be. A worldwide arrest warrant still remains issued for Seda, the former Ashland peace activist, arborist and officer in the Al- Haramain chapter that the government has labeled a terrorist organization. Seda previously has said he left the United States for the United Arab Emirates in September 2003 to continue his work as arborist and activist. While in Ashland, Seda offered free copies of the Koran to prison inmates through a program run out of his Al-Haramain-purchased residence on Highway 99 in Ashland. The United States and the United Arab Emirates do not have an extradition treaty and U.S. officials have no authority to go there and get Seda, according to international law. However, with his arrest warrant posted with Interpol, he would be arrested if found in a country with an extradition agreement with the United States. The government alleges the chapter, Seda and Al-Buthe conspired to defraud the United States, filed a false return for the tax- exempt foundation and illegally transported more than $10,000 out of the United States. Al-Buthe, whom federal court papers also list as a fugitive, faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted on the charges. Both Al-Buthe and the chapter have been designated terrorists, but Seda to date has sidestepped that designation. Seda’s friends and supporters said Friday that Matasar’s claims bolster their belief that Seda is not the on-the-lam world fugitive as painted by prosecutors. "I knew there was a reason he hasn’t come back," said Rabbi David Zaslow of Ashland. Zaslow said he believes Seda did not intentionally break any laws and that he will eventually be vindicated. "Obviously, I don’t know the specific facts," Zaslow said. "I think his mistakes were mistakes of naivet�. "Our country really does need to protect itself, in terms of world terrorism," Zaslow said. "But I believe Pete is a man of peace and wants what’s best for people and this country." The federal charges allege an Egyptian wired $150,000 to Seda's foundation chapter in March 2000 to aid Muslim rebels fighting Russians in Chechnya. Al-Buthe, a Saudi Arabian, then traveled from his country to Ashland, documents allege. He and Seda had the Bank of America in Ashland transfer the money into 130 $1,000 traveler's checks and a $21,000 cashier's check made out to Al-Buthe, a government affidavit claims. Al-Buthe then carried the cashier's check — which contained a hand-written notation reading "Donations for Chichania Refugees" on it — and traveler's checks back to Saudi Arabia illegally, documents allege. Federal law requires anyone carrying more than $10,000 out of the country to report it to the federal government. All of the traveler's checks were cashed by Al-Buthe on March 25, 2000, at a Saudi Arabian bank, and the $21,000 cashier's check was deposited in what federal agents said "appears" to be Al-Buthe's personal account, a federal affidavit states. The indictment alleges that Seda tried to hide the transaction from federal authorities by claiming in a document to the Internal Revenue Service that the $150,000 went toward payment of a prayer house in Missouri. Matasar’s assertions are part of legal filings by Marc Blackman, a Portland attorney who is representing the chapter in its criminal case. Court papers surfaced in a failed attempt by Blackman to fight U.S. attorneys’ attempts to stall the chapter’s arraignment on the charges. U.S. District Court Judge Thomas Coffin granted the government’s request April 18, ordering a continuance of the chapter’s arraignment until Aug. 8. The indictment also seeks to have $130,000 forfeited from the Ashland-based chapter to the United States. The chapter’s assets, including the Highway 99 house, remain frozen and it is illegal to do business with the chapter under federal terrorism laws. Blackman, however, received permission from the Department of Treasury’s Office of Foreign Asset Control to represent the chapter in its case, court documents show. 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 Free Music Downloads Conference Calls - $50/Month Home Security Systems Trunks, Footlocker, Trunk, Footlockers home equity loans helzberg Distance Education Diamonds Online Poker Slippers Student Loans Tatoo tcg student loan consolidation teleconferencing Website Design & Marketing Memory Foam Mattress w2 forms Tatoos Advertisement s