At the center of the federal investigation is a cluster of companies and charities based in Herndon, Va., that was launched in the 1970s by one of Saudi Arabia's leading banking families, the al-Rajhis. The network has owned or invested in businesses worldwide, including dairy farms in Zimbabwe, a poultry business in Georgia and lucrative office buildings in downtown Washington.
For years, most of the firms and foundations searched have engaged in extremely complex business deals with one another. And since the mid-1990s, federal agents have tried to track the $1.7 billion that has sloshed among them. Millions of dollars have ended up being sent to related firms in offshore tax havens, such as the Isle of Man, or to organizations that are under investigation for possible ties to terrorists.
The central figure in the interlocking companies and foundations is M. Yaqub Mirza, a financier with a reputation for brilliance who received a doctorate in physics from the University of Texas before taking the helm of the SAAR Foundation in Herndon, whose money he invested to start or gain positions in dozens of companies around the globe. SAAR and two close affiliates, the Safa Trust and the International Institute of Islamic Thought -- all of whose offices were searched -- donate funds to many legitimate Islamic causes, such as publishing religious texts and training Muslim clerics.
Five of their senior executives live in modest two-story homes on adjoining lots in Herndon. The houses were built on 22 acres that one of their affiliated firms bought and developed in 1987.
Many Muslims are dismayed because some sites searched are among the most established Islamic organizations in the United States, and in some cases, it is unclear what their ties to SAAR or alleged terrorist activity could be.
The Fiqh Council of North America in Leesburg, for example, is an organization of leading clerics that issues religious interpretations for mosques and Islamic centers across the country. The Graduate School of Islamic Social Sciences, also in Leesburg, trains Muslim imams for religious service, including in the U.S. military.
"It is a sad day for America again," said Mohammad Omeish, president of the Success Foundation, which describes itself as devoted to helping Muslim victims of war worldwide and whose Fairfax office was searched. "The message we are getting is, this war, even though they claim it is against terrorism, is against Muslims."
Hmph. I'm still waiting to see an article that reads: "Many Muslims are dismayed because some fanatics have gone on a world-wide killing spree in the name of their religion.", but I'm not going to hold my breath.