FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 21, 2003

IRAQI NATIONALS ARRESTED FOR OVER $7,000,000 IN ILLEGAL MONEY TRANSFERS

       DENVER – John Suthers, United States Attorney for the District of Colorado, James D. Vickery, Special Agent In Charge of the IRS-Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office, Phillip B.J. Reid, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Denver Office, and Jeff Copp, Acting Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement, today announced the arrest of MAITHAM ABDULLA JABER AL SAMAR, age 39, and his brother QASSIM ABDULLA JABER AL SAMER, age 38, both of Denver, for operating an unlicenced money transferring business. MAITHAM AL SAMAR, supported by his brother, is alleged to have sent over $7,000,000 to Iraq during the past two and a half years.  The two defendants were arrested without incident last night by Special Agents of the FBI and IRS based on a Criminal Complaint filed yesterday.  The investigation was conducted by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.

       MAITHAM AL SAMAR does business as Alrafden Transactions.  QASSIM AL SAMER does business as Wholly Smokes. Alrafden Transactions is registered with the Colorado Secretary of State as a Fictitious Business Name.  The existence of Wholly Smokes could not be identified through electronic database research.

       A Currency Transaction Report (CTR) is required to be completed and filed by all financial institutions on every currency transaction which exceeds $10,000.  In order to evade the filing of a CTR, persons involved in currency and financial crimes and transactions meant to launder and conceal the proceeds of criminal activity often “structure” their currency transactions so that no one transaction exceeds $10,000, or they provide false or misleading information in an attempt to legitimize or conceal the source and/or ownership of the currency.

       According the Arrest Affidavit, MAITHAM AL SAMAR utilized bank accounts in Denver to wire transfer the funds.  The bank filed a series of Currency Transaction Reports (CTR) and Suspicious Activity Reports (SAR) which indicated that the two defendants wire transferred approximately $240,000 in 2001, $5,953,693 in 2002, and $823,067 so far in 2003.  A review of the wire transfers shows that the majority of these transfers are made through MAITHAM AL SAMAR’s company Alrafden Transactions to Kadham A. Jaber, Arab Bank PLC, in Amman, Jordan, and Al Waheed Exchange Company in Kuwait.

       On March 19, 2003 agents of the Indianapolis, Indiana Joint Terrorism Task Force arrested MAZIN AL SAEED.  According to court records filed in the Northern District of Indiana, AL SAEED stated that he provided money to AL SAMAR to be sent to Iraq.

       The Colorado Department of Labor reported that MAITHAM AL SAMAR received wages totaling $27,441.53 in 2001 and $6,039.00 in 2002.  One of the bank CTR’s showed that QASSIM AL SAMAR is listed as the owner of a tobacco store.

       The Bank Secrecy Act requires certain money services businesses to register with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, within the U.S. Department of the Treasury.  These businesses are also required to prepare and maintain a list of agents.  Neither brother, nor their businesses, are shown on the MSB registration.

       Both brothers are charged with Operating an Unlicensed Money Transmitting Business.  If convicted, both face up to 5 years in federal prison, and/or a $250,000 fine.  The pair made their initial appearances before a Magistrate Judge in U.S. District Court in Denver today.  An arraignment and detention hearing will be scheduled for next week.

        United States Attorney John Suthers said, “Given our concerns about financing of terrorist organizations and state sponsored terrorism, it is more important than ever that we vigorously enforce our nation’s laws relating to transfers of funds.  This is particularly true in a time when we are at war with Iraq.”

       “These arrests reflect our combined efforts to identify alternative banking systems that can be used to hide suspicious financial transactions,” said James D. Vickery, Special Agent In Charge, IRS Criminal Investigation, Denver Field Office.

       “Thanks to the cooperative efforts of federal agents and officers of the Joint Terrorism Task Force in Colorado and Indiana, we have been able to identify sources of money going into Iraq.  Thanks to law enforcement efforts, we have stopped the flow of these funds to Iraq during this critical period.”

       This case was investigated by the FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force.  The Joint Terrorism Task Force is comprised of agents and officers of the FBI, IRS, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE – part of Homeland Security), Denver Police Department, Aurora Police Department, Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office, ATF, Colorado State Patrol, as well as representatives from the intelligence and military communities.  The case is being prosecuted by Executive Assistant United States Attorney Dave Gaouette.

       A Criminal Complaint is a formal criminal charging document based on a probable cause finding.  All defendants accused of committing a federal crime have a right to be indicted by a federal grand jury within 30 days of arrest.

       The charges are only allegations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless or until proven guilty.

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