FBI raid seized bank data

Washington Times ^ | Saturday, November 17, 2001 | Jerry Seper and Steve Miller

[JohnHuang2]

Federal agents seized bank statements and checkbooks, along with personal computers and medicines, when they searched the homes of three Chester, Pa., city officials this week for traces of anthrax, their attorney said yesterday.

Anthony F. List, who represents Chester Health Commissioner Irshad Shaikh, his brother, Masood, and Chester city accountant Asif Kazi, said his clients also were questioned about their knowledge of the distribution or acquisition of anthrax, a bacteria that has killed four persons in New York, Washington and Florida.

[JohnHuang2]

Quote of the Day by LeeMcCoy

[Travis McGee]

Green trash bags. Cipro.

[truth_seeker]

Put the three men, and the wife on lie detectors. Ask about the anthrax, the endometriosis, who prescribed Cipro, for what, based on what medical protocal. These folks have problems.

[HiTech RedNeck]

Even if the ciprofloxacin was legitimate (perhaps for bacterial overgrowth caused by treatment of yeast infections for endometriosis) what does it matter? Having the stuff by prescription isn't illegal and proves nothing yea or nay.

[truth_seeker]

Even if the ciprofloxacin was legitimate (perhaps for bacterial overgrowth caused by treatment of yeast infections for endometriosis) what does it matter? Having the stuff by prescription isn't illegal and proves nothing yea or nay.

Sounds like you know more about medicine, than I do. I'm just following up, based on the article. It said that Cipro wouldn't be used, for the cited condition. So go to the prescribing Doctor, ask what it was prescribed for. Since these guys are going before a Grand Jury, it looks like they likely have some goods on them, or think they can further the investigation.

[XGMan]

Why does the FBI keep pickin on the poor Muslims ?

If they'd listen to their own staff of anonymous sources and profilers as constantly reported and endorsed by Hardball's Chris Matthews and other top-of-the-line news folks, they'd know this is the work of blond-haired, blue-eyed Radical Right Wing Extremists with likely links to militia groups.

[Rubber Duckie]

Is it just me, or does somebody else see a problem that muncipalities only seem to hire non-American citizens and/or hyphenated Americans? Or can we say this is just another example of putting the weasles in charge of the henhouse in the name of diversity?

[kcvl]

City Health Commissioner Irshad Shaikh, 39, came under scrutiny by Delaware County law enforcement officials in 1999 after the Times reported that he may have written prescriptions illegally.

Shaikh, a 1987 graduate of Dow Medical College in Karachi, Pakistan, is not licensed to practice medicine in this country, and therefore is not permitted to write orders for prescription drugs.

After an investigation by the District Attorney's office, Shaikh was brought before a grand jury.

It recessed without issuing any indictments.

Shaikh -- one of three men grilled by the FBI yesterday - has been the city health officer since 1994. In that time, he hasbuilt a reputation as a well-respected health advocate for Chester.

In an 1999 interview, Dr. Thomas McBride, long-time president of Chester's Board of Health, called Shaikh "brilliant," and "the best thing that has happened, health-wise, to the citizens of Chester that I've ever known of."

Yesterday, Mayor Dominic Pileggi, who helped recruit Shaikh seven years ago, praised his health commissioner and his efforts.

"Dr. Shaikh has been working very hard at his job as health commissioner," the mayor said. "He's got a reputation that he's built over the last seven hears for helping people."

Pileggi said he was not privy to the reasons behind the sealed search warrants, but said unless the searches turn up evidence of wrongdoing, Shaikh will remain in good standing with city leaders.

The health commissioner holds a master's degree and Ph.D in public health from Johns Hopkins University.

In a 1995 interview with the Times, Shaikh said he had originally intended to become a neurosurgeon, but became fascinated with epidemiology and public health after being hired as head research officer for the Pakistan Medical Research Council at the Federal Ministry of Health in Islamabad, Pakistan.

Before coming to the U.S., he also held the position of project officer for the first National Health Survey of Pakistan, a joint project with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' National Center for Health Statistics, and worked with the former UNICEF Sub-Saharan Africa chief on AIDS projects.

Shaikh came to the United States in 1993 as an exchange student. He had been granted a World Health Organization scholarship to study for a master's degree in public health at Johns Hopkins University, where he currently is a part-time instructor.

A year later, the Pakistani government granted his request to stay in the U.S. to pursue his Ph.D -- but at his own expense.

Around the same time, while still a student at Johns Hopkins, he was hired as Chester City's top health official. The post pays $69,000 a year, plus benefits which include a city vehicle.

Shaikh's brother, Masood, director of the city's lead abatement program, and city accountant Asif Kazi were also questioned yesterday by the FBI. What the federal investigators are looking for is still unknown.

FBI agents armed with sealed search warrants scoured the Edgmont Avenue apartment shared by the Shaikh brothers as well as Kazi's nearby home on West 21st Street. Shaikh's second-floor city hall office and Kazi's office in the annex building across the street were also searched.

Around 4 p.m. yesterday, several agents left the offices carrying soft-sided briefcases that appeared to be full. They declined to comment about the search.

Masood Shaikh earns $30,000 with the city. Like his brother, he is also a resident of Pakistan, Pileggi said. He had previously worked for the city, returned to Pakistan in 1999 to care for his ill mother, and subsequently returned to Chester, Pileggi confirmed.

Asif Kazi was hired as head accountant in 1999 at a salary of $45,000. Kazi, a native Pakistani, is a naturalized U.S. citizen, Pileggi said.Of the trio, Pileggi said, "I think it is fair to say they are held in high regard by their co-workers."

[Lion's Cub]

Writing and fingerprint samples. Grand jury Dec.20 (These jurists are not going to be happy about this in the last- minute Christmas rush. I don't know if that's good or bad. It also gives these guys over a month to disappear.)

[Real Cynic No More]

Affirmative Action at work.

[pttttt]

This is a good illustration of the immigration and visa problem and how out of control it is. These Pakistani guys really burrowed in, without triggering any alarms. It would have been near-impossible for a Brit to do this under our current immigration policies.

[oceanperch]

The feds just seized a bank acct. thought to funnel money to the Arabian Jihad. Was on local news I will keep my eyes open for an article. Nothing in print so far that I have found.

[dennisw]

I don't know what to make of this.

[dennisw]

Just want to say you are a great writer and I liked your essay about your trials to be able to work for the USA at the State Department.

[aristeides]

That article you posted -- thanks for posting it, by the way -- comes from something calling itself "the Times" (which also apparently interviewed Dr. Shaikh as early as 1995). Is that the Trenton Times?

[Stentor]

This is from the Trenton Times

New Jersey Online

That knock on the door may be federal agents

11/17/01

By KEVIN SHEA Staff Writer

Sometime in the next few weeks, federal agents will knock on the doors of 5,000 young men across the country who arrived in the United States in the past two years on visas designed for temporary residency.

The agents, or local or state officials working with the government on terrorism investigation task forces, will request an interview of the men in hopes of enticing them to assist in the massive investigation of terrorism in this country and abroad.

The list of men, the federal Department of Justice said, was drawn from immigration records because they are from countries where a terrorist might plot an additional attack on the United States. The department would not name the countries.

The men are between the ages of 18 and 33 and entered the country since Jan. 1, 2000, on non-immigrant visas. That category is a broad classification that includes visas for pleasure, students, international representatives, temporary workers, foreign media and religious workers.

The lists have been divided among the 94 federal districts in the country and sent to the U.S. attorneys who are responsible for delegating the interviews in their jurisdictions within 30 days. The effort began Nov. 9 and was made public Tuesday.

Sandra Carroll, FBI spokeswoman in Newark, which has jurisdiction in the Trenton area, said yesterday she has not seen a list and does not know how many New Jersey residents are on it.

The Justice Department said it is being frank about the effort, claiming the move is purely investigatory and that the men are not suspects but are being sought as helpful sources of information.

"These individuals were selected for interviews because they fit the criteria of persons who might have knowledge of foreign-based terrorists, criteria that are shared by many of the persons -- both American citizens and visitors to our country -- who have provided valuable information and assistance to law enforcement in our anti-terrorism efforts since Sept. 11," Attorney General John Ashcroft wrote in a memo to U.S. attorneys about the effort. "I believe that they are willing and able to provide information that could assist our campaign against terrorism.

"Just as our citizens regularly volunteer information and tips that help us solve criminal cases and enforce the law, we expect that these visitors can contribute significantly to our effort to protect the United States from further terrorism," the memo said.

Locally, Morad Abou-Sabe, head of Arab American League of Voters of New Jersey, is unhappy about the list. He alleged yesterday that the tactic is nothing new for Middle Easterners in New Jersey since Sept. 11.

Abou-Sabe, a resident of West Windsor, said he has talked to area residents of Middle Eastern descent who already have been questioned by federal authorities without being charged with any crimes.

The government's list, he said, is evidence the terror probe is "getting out of hand."

The government, he said, has shown "no constraint at all" in choosing to talk to people where they work and live.

-- -- --

In another memo, Deputy Attorney General Larry Thompson gave specifics on how the interviews should be conducted and how the men should be treated.

Among them:

-- Interviews will be conducted on a consensual basis and the men will be free to decline answering questions.

-- Interviews will not be "custodial interrogations," so there is no need for agents to seek waivers of Miranda rights.

-- Unless a subject prefers to be interviewed away from his home, workplace or neighborhood, agents are not to take him to a police station or federal field office.

-- Agents are not to inquire into an individual's religious beliefs and practices. But, Thompson wrote, it is appropriate to ask whether he has witnessed or heard anyone advocating violence or terrorism.

-- Agents should be aware some men may be attending school on student visas and should follow all protocols regarding coordination with campus security.

"A number of the men may have difficulty with the English language and little understanding of our criminal justice system," Thompson wrote, "and we want them and the other members of their communities clearly to understand that they are not being taken into custody."

The American Civil Liberties Union and a national Arab-American organization have challenged the effort, saying it appears like a well-engineered, racial profiling fishing expedition.

They charged the government already has acted questionably when it rounded up more than 1,000 suspects in the weeks after Sept. 11.

Federal authorities said Thursday that none of the roughly 1,200 suspects arrested have been connected to the Sept. 11 attackers named by the FBI.

"This sort of dragnet approach is most likely to magnify fears about racial and ethnic profiling, especially given the government's continued refusal to release even the most basic information about the hundreds of people already in detention," said Steven R. Shapiro, the ACLU's national legal director.

"The government should be encouraging those with information to come forward rather than alienating the very people whose cooperation is key to this important investigation," said Lucas Guttentag, director of the ACLU's Immigrants' Rights Project.

-- -- --

The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee, in a statement, urged the government to adhere strictly to the law and American values when implementing the plan, which it said, "smacks of racial profiling and is open to serious abuse if civil liberties are not respected."

Abou-Sabe agreed, saying the list and President Bush's approval of the use of military tribunals for suspected terrorists "changes the whole direction of this country to say the least."

Thompson's memo addresses the possibility of the men incriminating themselves, plus immigration issues, but cautions investigators on the subject too. "You should feel free to use all appropriate means of encouraging an individual to cooperate, including reference to any reward money that is being offered for information about terrorists," the memo says.

"You should raise the topic of the individual's possible prosecution only if you have both a solid factual basis for concluding that the individual has violated a criminal statute and clear authority to enforce that statute," Thompson wrote.

Also, Thompson wrote, the primary purpose of the interviews is not to ascertain the legality of the individuals' immigration status, but those found in clear violation of immigration laws will be reported to the Immigration and Naturalization Service.

Ashcroft, in his memo, foresaw criticism of the list.

"These individuals were not selected in order to single out a particular ethnic or religious group or to suggest that one ethnic or religious group is more prone to terrorism than another," he wrote.

"I emphatically reject that proposition, and I want all to understand that there is no place for ethnic or religious stereotyping in this plan, or in this nation's campaign against terrorism."

[kcvl]

delcotimes.com...WHATEVER THAT IS!

BTW, did you read this?

Khalid Al-Midhar and Nawaq Alhamzi rented a room last year in the home of Abdussattar Shaikh, a retired educator and founder of a San Diego Islamic center. For morePress Here

I wonder if they are all related?

Here is more on Abdussattar Shaikh Press Here

[aristeides]

That must be the Delaware County Times. Chester is in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, I believe.

[aristeides]

Here's a link to an article in today's Delcotimes on the raid: Shaikhs' lawyer denies all .

[SuperLuminal]

Chester, PA = Kabul West???