FBI: Donations Bought Guns
The FBI Wednesday arrested seven alleged members of an Iraq-based terrorist group that used a fake charity to solicit donations from travelers that were used to buy arms for its struggle against Iran's Islamist government.
The seven are members of the Mujahedeen Khalq Organization of Iran, or the People's Holy Warriors, better known as the MEK, FBI official James DeSarno said.
A woman identified as the cell leader and six men were taken into custody Tuesday. Each was charged with one count of supporting a terrorist organization, punishable by up to 10 years in prison. They were expected in court Wednesday afternoon.
The cell did not have an armed wing, DeSarno said, and "None of these (arrested) individuals … are tied to any terrorist act, either here or in the United States or overseas."
DeSarno said the seven Iranian nationals — six men and one woman who was considered the ringleader — dressed in business suits and approached travelers, primarily Asians who did not speak good English, arriving at Los Angeles International Airport.
After showing them graphic photos of Iranian orphans and alleged atrocities by the Iranian government, they collected up to $10,000 a day which they said was to be spent to aid a charitable group called "The Committee for Human Rights in Iran," which purported to use the money to feed starving children.
FBI officials also believe that the accused, aided by an unknown number of volunteers in the Los Angeles area, solicited money from the city's substantial Iranian community, which is one of the largest Iranian expatriate communities in the world.
They stressed that the Iranian donors were likely unaware that they were contributing money to terrorists, FBI spokesman Matthew McLaughlin said.
According to a federal affidavit, the Los Angeles-based fund-raisers transferred more than $1 million in donations to two Turkish bank accounts in the three years.
During April, 1999, more than $400,000 was transferred out of those accounts to a used auto parts store in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. The money, FBI officials said, was believed to have been used to buy rocket propelled grenades, mortars and other arms.
The investigation, known as Operation Eastern Money, was initiated by the German National Criminal Police who told FBI officials that members of the MEK were involved in money laundering in Los Angeles, reports CBS News Correspondent Manuel Gallegus.
According to the terrorism database at the Naval Postgraduate School, the MEK was formed in the 1960s to repel Western influence in the Shah's regime. Operating under a philosophy combining Marxism and Islam, the group now wants to overthrow Iran's Islamic government.
MEK's leaders had to flee Iran to France in the 1980s. The group, consisting of several thousand fighters, is now based in Iraq, and recently said its forces were invlved in heavy fighting with Iran's army this month.
The MEK is one of several groups listed as a "terrorist organization" by Washington. A similar designation was recently assigned to the group by the British government.
From the 1970s to the 1990s, MEK staged attacks inside Iran where it killed several U.S. military personnel and civilians. The organization has carried out several rocket attacks and assassinations in Iran's big cities in recent months.
It also participated in the takeover in 1979 of the U.S. Embassy in Tehran and was responsible for the violent occupation of the Iranian mission to the United Nations in New York in 1992.
The FBI said the cell's leader was Tahmineh Tahamtan, 39. The others were identified as Mustafa Ahmady, 46; Hossein Afshari, 43; Ali Reza Moradi, 30; Hassan Rezai, 46; Mohammad Omidvar, 44, and Najaf Eshkoftegi, 50.
The FBI said Eshkoftegi is a naturalized citizen and the others are Iranian nationals.
©MMI Viacom Internet Services Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report