Another interesting story with a FL connection...
http://www.local10.com/news/2843860/detail.html FBI Checking To See If Fraud Money Went To Terrorists
Flight Attendant Accused Of Credit Card Fraud, Possible Terrorism Ties
POSTED: 5:15 PM EST February 12, 2004
HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- A Hollywood flight attendant charged with multiple counts of credit card fraud says she's innocent -- but the FBI says it wants to know if the money they think she scammed went to help terrorists.
Maha Elsaai, who is a naturalized U.S. citizen from Egypt, pleaded not guilty Tuesday to committing thousands of dollars worth of credit card fraud.
Last month, FBI agents arrested Elsaai, who was a flight attendant for Planet Air Charters, at her Hollywood home.
Agents went through her trash, collecting evidence that they say links Elsaai to $200,000 in credit card fraud.
Her brother says he does not believe his sister did anything wrong.
"I don't think she did all this because where is the money? That is the question," said Ashrraf Elsaai.
The FBI, too, wants to know where the money is.
According to the indictment, agents started investigating Elsaai after a witness in another case told them Elsaai had made statements implying the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks were justified.
When agents checked further into her background, agents said they found Elsaai's name in FBI files just one month after the attacks, when according to the indictment, "Elsaai had numerous credit cards and held views that were hostile to the United States."
Her brother, though, says that just can't be true.
"My sister, she's been here 16 or 17 years. She loves America," Ashrraf Elsaai said. "She's been working in the airline business for 10 years."
A source close to the investigation told Local 10 that agents want to know if any of the money involved in the credit card fraud was used to help fund the 9/11 hijackers, many of whom also lived for a time in Hollywood.
Ashrraf Elsaai said his sister was in Washington shortly after the attacks and was horrified by what happened.
"She called me on the phone. She told me, 'These guys are animals,'" he said. "'They did something bad really' -- that was her comment."
The FBI is refusing to answer any questions about the case. Maha Elsaai continues to be held without bond.
This story just made me wonder about whether that ValuJet crash in Florida in 1996 was really caused by those oxygen tanks, or if it was, how do we know, that they weren't deliberately mislabeled and exploded. I noticed that crash happened a couple of months before the TWA 800 crash.
At that time nobody even considered the possibility of suicide jihadis.
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ValuJet Airlines Flight 592 | May 11, 1996
This tragedy, which caused the deaths of all 110 people aboard, led to significant aviation policy changes, a 24-count criminal indictment against the airline's maintenance contractors, and, ultimately, the downfall of the carrier. The crash occurred in the swampy Florida Everglades shortly after the DC-9 took off from Miami International Airport en route to Atlanta. An uncontrolled fire broke out in the cargo hold and disabled the plane's electrical system. NTSB investigators determined that volatile oxygen-generating canisters incorrectly labeled as empty and illegally stowed by maintenance technicians in the jet's cargo hold exploded, unleashing an inferno. After ValuJet 592, all planes would be retrofitted with smoke detectors and fire-suppression equipment in cargo holds. Furthermore, the FAA enacted stricter rules regarding the transportation of hazardous materials by air and banned chemical oxygen canisters. Finally, it initiated a formal review of its own procedures for overseeing airlines' maintenance contractors.
TWA Flight 800 | July 17, 1996
Flight 800, a Boeing 747 flying to Paris from New York's JFK International Airport, plunged into the ocean off Long Island, New York, after a catastrophic break-up shortly after take-off. None of the 230 people aboard survived. With the Summer Olympics set to begin in Atlanta in two days, speculation of a terrorist bombing immediately arose. But after one of the most intricate inquiries in aviation history, which included the first full-scale re-creation of a downed aircraft from its debris, NTSB investigators ruled out terrorism. They focused instead on the aircraft's near-empty center fuel tank, where, they determined, an explosion of still unknown origin brought the plane down. The NTSB's recommendations focused on the flammability of the 747's fuel tank, including its potential ignition sources, design, and certification standards, and on the maintenance and aging of the aircraft's other systems, particularly wiring and fittings that could spark or overheat. Within two years of the crash, new fuel-management procedures were required for all 747s.
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http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/nova/aircrash/safer.html Maybe it was just an accident, but on the other hand...