Arms dealer indicted in terror plot; Feds say accused broker urged missile attacks on 15 U.S. jets

An alleged missile broker arrested in New Jersey suggested to his buyer that the weapons be launched simultaneously against 15 U.S. jetliners and offered to deliver a radioactive "dirty bomb" for use against Americans, federal authorities said yesterday.

Prosecutors announced the new allegations after a grand jury sitting in Newark returned a five-count indictment against the man, Hemant Lakhani.

The 69-year-old London resident was arrested Aug. 12 at a hotel near Newark Liberty International Airport after he thought he had delivered an Igla shoulder-fired missile to a Somali terrorist who said he wanted to down U.S. planes. Officials said the missile was the first of more than 50 Lakhani had promised to deliver.

The terrorist was actually a cooperating witness for the FBI. The missile, sold for $86,000, was a harmless replica that Lakhani bought from Russian federal agents who posed as weapons manufacturers.

Lakhani was indicted on a charge of attempting to provide material support to terrorism, an offense punishable by up to 15 years in prison. He also faces charges of money laundering, unlawful brokering of foreign defense articles and attempting to import merchandise by means of false statements.

The indictment nearly mirrored a criminal complaint filed after Lakhani's arrest. But it also included new details of the 18-month sting by federal agents in Newark, Russia and Great Britain.

U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said Lakhani brazenly suggested to the FBI witness that he buy more missiles and use 10 to 15 of them to simultaneously down jetliners at airports across America. In the conversation, one of more than 100 taped by FBI agents, Lakhani suggested launching the attacks on Sept. 11 to incite a war, Christie said.

Lakhani also told his would-be buyer that he could secure anti-aircraft weapons, tanks, radar systems, armored personnel carriers and a "dirty bomb" that would spread radiation once it exploded, the prosecutor said.

Christie said investigators have no proof linking Lakhani to any terror group, but repeated his belief that Lakhani was a "significant arms dealer." He declined to elaborate, but said government attorneys are prepared to prove the claim at trial, when he leads the prosecution team.

"This is not someone who was just a businessman looking to make a buck," he said at a news conference. "We've become convinced that this is also someone who, at least in some way, was a true believer in the cause that America should be attacked and that its citizens should be killed."

Lakhani's attorney, Henry Klingeman, said yesterday that his client is "not a significant arms dealer," but rather a trained lawyer who spent decades as an importer and exporter of women's clothing.

Klingeman said Lakhani brokered one legitimate arms deal several years ago when he helped the Angolan government purchase a single armored truck from a state-licensed Ukrainian arms supplier. The defense attorney said Lakhani has never been involved in any illegal arms dealing. He said he plans to argue entrapment at trial.

"The plot that the government foiled was a conspiracy that the government conceived, planned and executed through its own agents and no one else," Klingeman said.

The indictment did not mention the two other defendants in the case, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, 38, of Malaysia and Yehuda Abraham, 76, a jeweler from Queens. Both were arrested in August at Abraham's office in Manhattan, where prosecutors said the men conspired to help Lakhani secretly transfer his missile payments to an account overseas.

Christie said investigators have no proof that either man knew the money was part of a terror-related plot. Both have talked with prosecutors; such conversations sometimes lead to plea bargains.

The defense attorneys for Abraham and Hameed did not return calls seeking comment yesterday.

A plea deal for Lakhani is unlikely, his attorney said. Because of his age, "any sentence would be a life sentence," Klingeman said.

Louie Allen, the special agent in charge of the FBI's Newark division, said the investigation continued even after Lakhani's arrest.

"We're uncovering new facts which will make our case a lot better when we get to court," he said.

The prosecutors also announced they have taken steps to seize the $86,000 from Lakhani. The money represents the amount Lakhani received from the cooperating witness for the missile. It was transferred to an overseas account, but nothing was paid to the Russian agents.

"Law enforcement does not have that money to date," Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeffrey Clark said.

John P. Martin covers the federal courts. He can be reached at jmartin@starledger.com or (973) 622-3405.

Is there a terrorist scorecard on FR where we could list the sentences for these nutjobs? I think that if the American public saw the variances between sentences there would (should) be an outcry. Some get 91/2 yrs some get 100 yrs. I was under the hopeful impression terrorists, supporters, finaciers and all who aid and abet will get equal punishment. That is not the case.

Officials said the missile was the first of more than 50 Lakhani had promised to deliver. The terrorist was actually a cooperating witness for the FBI. The missile, sold for $86,000, was a harmless replica that Lakhani bought from Russian federal agents who posed as weapons manufacturers.

Well, at least we know that whatever Putin says publicly,he is certainly going along GWB's direction

The indictment nearly mirrored a criminal complaint filed after Lakhani's arrest...it also included new details of the 18-month sting by federal agents in Newark, Russia and Great Britain. U.S. Attorney Christopher Christie said Lakhani brazenly suggested to the FBI witness that he buy more missiles and use 10 to 15 of them to simultaneously down jetliners at airports across America.

Surely the Feds have interrogated this guy thoroughly, yes? I certainly hope so.

Is there a terrorist scorecard on FR where we could list the sentences for these nutjobs?

Good idea. Be my guest. Would make a good thread for FReepers review.

I think that if the American public saw the variances between sentences there would (should) be an outcry. Some get 91/2 yrs some get 100 yrs. I was under the hopeful impression terrorists, supporters, finaciers and all who aid and abet will get equal punishment. That is not the case.

You got that right.

I was under the.....impression terrorists, supporters, financiers.....who aid and abet will get equal punishment.

In terms of who is the most culpable, even the most determined terrorist could not do his dirty work without the financing to move it forward.

Certainly financiers of terror, the moneymen who facilitate the terror acts, are aiders and abettors of the first order, as dastardly as the driver of the bank robber's getaway car. And in penalizing bank robbery, the driver, and the lookout, are deemed as guilty as the robber.

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