Note from below: Mohammed Habib Rehman = Mr. Haji
Brit-Indian admits laundering $86,000 for Hemant Lakhani
A London financier of Indian origin has admitted to laundering $86,000 for UK-based Indian, Hemant Lakhani, who was arrested last year in New Jersey for selling shoulder-fired missiles to an FBI informant who had posed as a terrorist.
At a US federal court hearing in Newark, Manthena "Vijay" Raja, who has agreed to testify against Lakhani when the trial begins in November, said he knew the money was payment for a missile.
Since the 18-month FBI sting operation that led to the arrest of Lakhani in August 2003, Raja, 44, is the third person to plead guilty in the case. Prosecutors said Lakhani, 69, arranged the $5 million sale of 51 shoulder-fired missiles to an undercover informant who said he wanted them to bring down US jetliners.
Lakhani was arrested after the delivery of the first missile, which was actually a harmless replica sold to him by undercover Russian agents as part of the sting operation. Lakhani has maintained that he is not a terrorist. His lawyer Henry Klingeman has said Lakhani was a victim of entrapment by government operatives.
Raja told the court that he had met Lakhani four years ago and in 2002 he agreed to help facilitate the missile purchase. He admitted faxing weapons brochures and accepting money for Lakhani from a man in the US known to him as "Mr Haji". The payment for the first missile came in two transfers. Raja said he gave the first $30,000 to Lakhani and deposited the second amount, $56,500, in a Swiss bank account.
Claiming to be a financial services and asset management professional, Raja said he was aware the money was part of an illegal arms deal between Lakhani and Haji. According to an American media report earlier this year, Haji is allegedly a paid FBI informant named Mohammed Habib Rehman. He is expected to be the key witness at Lakhani's trial.
Raja, who faces between 37 to 46 months in prison, made a plea bargain to a single money laundering count and agreed to forfeit the total sum of $86,500. Prosecutors agreed to ask the judge for a lighter sentence based on his assistance in the case. Raja will be allowed to return to London after posting $100,000 cash bail. His defense attorney Paul Brickfield said his client is a businessman and a born-again Christian who harboured no ill will toward the United States.
Two other defendants, Yehuda Abraham, a New York jeweller, and Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, an Indian national, await sentencing. They have pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting service in connection with the arms plot, and admitted they arranged to secretly transfer thousands of dollars for Lakhani. But both men maintained that they did not know the money was part of a missile deal. Lakhani is held at the Passaic County Jail in Paterson. His trial is expected to last at least two months.
Jury selection starts in missile sting case
Tuesday, December 07, 2004
Jury selection began yesterday for a British businessman accused of selling a shoulder-fired missile to an undercover FBI informant who posed as a terrorist.
More than 600 potential jurors could be called to federal court in Newark before attorneys settle on the 12 panelists and four alternates who will begin hearing the case against Hemant Lakhani next month.
Lakhani, 69, has been jailed since he allegedly arranged the delivery of a Russian-made Igla missile to the FBI operative at a hotel near Newark Liberty International Airport in August 2003. The informant claimed he represented a Somalian terror group that wanted 50 more missiles to use against U.S. jetliners; he paid Lakhani more than $80,000 for the first one and promised him $5 million for the rest.
The arrest followed a two-year FBI sting that included help from Russian agents, who posed as the missile sellers. It also drew global attention as one of the first major U.S. terrorism busts after the 9/11 attacks.
Prosecutors indicted Lakhani on charges of attempting to provide material support to terrorists, but said they had no evidence linking him to known terrorist groups. He also faces counts of money laundering, unlawful brokering of foreign defense articles and attempting to import merchandise by means of false statements.
Lakhani pleaded not guilty and insisted in jailhouse interviews that he was set up by government agents. Defense attorney Henry Klingeman said he will argue that his client was a victim of government entrapment.
Lakhani sat silently in U.S. District Judge Katharine Hayden's courtroom yesterday as jury selection began. He wore glasses and a slightly oversized suit; four deputy U.S. marshals sat within a few paces of the defense table.
About 40 potential jurors were dismissed based on their replies to a questionnaire. The rest will be screened individually in coming days by Hayden, Klingeman and Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stuart Rabner and Brian Howe. The trial is expected to last at least 10 weeks.
Hayden declined to release the form used to interview each juror, for fear its publication could influence the process before a panel is seated. But the responses in open court shed light on the case and the jury that attorneys hope to seat.
They asked potential jurors about their jobs, their homes, their families and friends. They asked for their views on terrorism, undercover operations and law enforcement. And they asked if they spoke Hindi, Urdu, Punjabi or Russian, languages overheard on FBI tapes that will be played during the trial.
After 50 minutes of questioning, the judge dismissed two men -- one because of a medical condition and the other because of a language barrier -- and approved a male engineer and a retired female teacher. Each will be added to a pool of about 40 panelists asked to return for the final selection on Jan. 4.
Three other men have pleaded guilty to charges related to the plot.
Manthena "Vijay" Raja, a London financier, pleaded guilty in September to laundering $86,000 for Lakhani. Raja, an Indian national, said he said he knew the money was payment for a missile.
Yehuda Abraham, a New York jeweler, and Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, an Indian national, pleaded guilty to operating an unlicensed money transmitting service in connection with the arms plot. Both admitted they arranged to secretly transfer thousands of dollars for Lakhani, but neither said they about the missile deal.
Hameed and Raja agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and are likely to testify at Lakhani's trial.