Northern District of New York
| U.S. Attorney's Office Northern District of New York |
April 25, 2003
NEWS RELEASE
Glenn T. Suddaby, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, announced today that AYMAN JARWAN entered a plea of guilty to a criminal Information before District Judge Norman A. Mordue in Federal District Court in Syracuse, New York. In his plea, JARWAN, age 33 from Syracuse, NY, has admitted committing two felony offenses: conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by sending money to Iraq in violation of the sanctions imposed on Iraq; and conspiring to defraud the United States by impairing and impeding the Internal Revenue Service in the calculation and collection of taxes. Each count carries a maximum sentence of 5 years incarceration and a $250,000 fine. JARWAN had been charged in an Indictment on February 19, 2003 with a conspiracy to violate IEEPA. At the time of his Indictment, the Government noted that its investigation was continuing. The Plea Agreement filed today provides that JARWAN will not be further charged in the investigation, and that he will cooperate with the Government in its investigation.
In entering his guilty plea, JARWAN admitted that he assisted others at HELP THE NEEDY in sending money to Iraq, notwithstanding his knowledge that sanctions had been imposed on that country since 1990 prohibiting such transactions. Specifically, he admitted that on two occasions, he helped to obtain $100,000 checks from HELP THE NEEDY accounts, so that they could be sent to an indicted co-defendant, MAHER ZAGHA in Jordan, so that it could be forwarded to Iraq. With respect to the tax related conspiracy, JARWAN admitted that he provided donors to HELP THE NEEDY with receipts advising them that their contributions were tax deductible, when in fact HELP THE NEEDY was not a tax-exempt organization. Those receipts were relied upon by donors to deduct contributions when they were not, in fact, permitted to do so legally.
The Government noted in Court that the purpose of the prohibition on transfers of money into Iraq is to prevent money sent for any purpose from being misused once in Iraq, and that its investigation into the use of that money once it was sent to Jordan is still under investigation.
Sentencing has been set for ______, 2003, although that sentencing may be delayed while the investigation and prosecution of related charges are pending. JARWAN was permitted to remain on release, with conditions, pending his sentencing.
The entry of this guilty plea is a result of the continuing investigation undertaken by agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Internal Revenue Service; the Social Security Administration, Office of Inspector General; the Defense Criminal Investigative Service; the New York State Police; the United States Customs Service; the Immigration and Naturalization Service; the U.S. Postal Service; the Department of Health and Human Services, Office of Inspector General; and the United States Marshals Service. Further information concerning the case can be obtained by calling United States Attorney Glenn T. Suddaby at (315) 448-0672.
