Al-Qaeda Threat in Philadelphia?

ABC Channel 6 Action News - Philadelphia ^ | June 27, 2002 | David Henry

[all4one]

Al-Qaeda Threat in Philadelphia?

Philadelphia, PA June 27, 2002 — David Henry reports from the Action Newsroom.

An Action News investigation reveals that a chain of jewelry stores operating in the Delaware Valley is being investigated by the FBI for possible connections to the Al Qaeda terror network.

A series of raids were carried out yesterday in Philadelphia and across the state of Pennsylvania.

The stores are mostly kiosks in shopping malls operating under the name "Intrigue Jewelers." They are all owned by Pakistanis under franchise agreements with a company called Gold Concepts, based in Pennsacola, Florida.

Intrigue operates stores at malls in Philadelphia, Plymouth Meeting, Harrisburg, and Monroeville. Until recently, they also had a kiosk at the Lehigh Valley Mall near Allentown. Owners and employees of the Intrigue shops at the Gallery in Center City and at the Plymouth Meeting Mall were questioned yesterday by agents from the FBI and INS. An employee at the shops in the Monroeville Mall tells us he was detained for hours yesterday.

Tariq Hussain says his home was searched and his computer was taken. He says the FBI accused him of funneling money to Ossama bin Laden's terror network. He says they questioned him about a photo he took two years ago of the NASDAQ building in New York, but he doesn't know how they knew about the photo.

The man in the photos taken at the World Trade Center just days before the attacks also worked at the Intrigue Jewelry store at the Lehigh Valley Mall. Two days before the attacks Ashar Iqbal Butt came to a photo shop in the mall looking for the pictures. The clerk says Butt seemed anxious to get them.

He was picked up on September 12th and was later charged with entering the country on a false passport just a month before the attacks.

Action News has confirmed that yesterday's sweep is part of a nationwide investigation involving at least 60 jewelry outlets. The justice department confirms that a number of people have been detained for questioning, but no charges have been filed yet.

[Grampa Dave]

Ranger Good Morning and thanks for your diamond tie in and link.

I love Free Republic and the great People who contribute to it.

See my links to: (Gold Concepts Home Page Link)

[Miss Marple]

Interesting contributions this morning! Thanks guys! I am going to check the other thread on the Florida arrests and see if anyone has added information to it.

We actually should have one thread on this subject. I propose we keep all information on this thread, since people have added interesting articles and links, and I will direct anyone on the Florida thread to come over here.

[antidisestablishment]

JFS, LLC also operates Phillips Jewelers and PetroZello Fine Jewelry. All have the exact same website and merchandise. Looking for corporate info now.

[antidisestablishment]

All three "stores" are running off the same e-commerce server: http://www.jewelers-services.com. Resolved to 216.68.114.111, no reverse DNS. ...

[antidisestablishment]

Eamil Server @qgold:

Registrant:

Quality Gold (QGOLD-DOM)

500 Quality Blvd.
Fairfield, OH 45014
US

Domain Name: QGOLD.COM

Administrative Contact:
Langhammer, Michael (ML10150) admin@EJEWELRY.COM
E-Jewelry, LLC.
500 Quality Blvd.
Fairfield , OH 45014
513-942-7659 (FAX) 513-682-1100

Technical Contact:
Anderson, Barry (BA4387) domains@EJEWELRY.COM
ejewelry, LLC
500 Quality Blvd.
Cincinnati , OH 45018
513-942-7659 (FAX) 513-682-1100

[Grampa Dave]

You are hot today!

I'm still 2 cups of coffee on the low side, since it is only 6:40 am something here on the left coast.

Summer, if you are on board, you might want to go back about 50 replies on this thread to catch up. Please flag your Floriduh Freeper buddies.

[Grampa Dave]

You might be interested in some uncovering done here just in the past few minutes.

Check out the replies from about #90 on this thread on down.

[Grampa Dave]

I thought that you might interested some of the latest findings and replies on your thread.

Some interesting data is being posted since this morning.

Thanks for posting this yesterday!

[Miss Marple]

I have been running PetroZello Fine Jewelers in google. They are linked to sites all over the world and sell to countries that speak French and German.

Interestingly, they have a 30-day return policy, which I find unusual in a jewelry company, since tightwad rich people are known for buying expensive jewelry for social occasions and then retuurning it. My sister's deapartment store, for example, will not take returns on jewelry without a gift receipt accompanying it, and it CANNOT be returned after New Year's.

[Grampa Dave]

Isn't the name PetroZello interesting?

Are these guys so cocky, that they would put Petro in as a code word into a trade name.

Maybe Swarthy Guy can help us with this name.

[antidisestablishment]

All of these companies are tied back to Quality Gold. QGC is based in Cincinatti and has recently invested around 8 million according to the state enterprise zone report.

[Miss Marple]

Well, Petrozello is also a name that shows up in a lot of searches, including a reporter for USA Today, so I wouldn't put too much stock in that.

I am interested in the log in procedure on the Quality Gold site, however. Seems like one could use a codename to get special information through a site by that little gimmick.

[Grampa Dave]

You are really good.

I'm afraid that once this stuff starts oozing out and some good research is done, we will find all types of so called legitimate businesses involved in these money trails.

The next step is who are the registered owners. Then have they contributed to Rat Congressits like McKinley of Georgia and that Rat running for senator in Texas. A long time black congressman in the south was just defeated. He had all types of tie ins with the Islamic money crowd.

[antidisestablishment]

Alright. Quality Gold is a major jewelry wholesaler. They run a huge e-commerce server for jewelry clients. The individual stores are independent fronts for QGold. They create and maintain the websites and the little guys don't have any real investment. Now, all this is above board, but I see huge opportunity for money laundering and transferring assets. Then again, I am naturally suspicious. LOL

[Miss Marple]

They don't pay all their bills apparently. This is strange:

Go here

[Jeff Head]

Very interesting and potentially very disturbing.

If they had such an "in" ... and over the years they could easily have developed one ... and if they have "faithful" involved in even a small percentage of a large chain ... they could use them to forment one very horrific simultaneous attack.

Will do more of my own checking.

[Grampa Dave]

I still remember your chilling pre installment of the attack on the shopping center in your upcoming book.

Like you, I shuddered at the time these potential terrorists have had to roam the malls where they have stores to plan some very evil stuff. Every mall where there is one of the stores needs to be really checked for you know what! The first reports out of Gitmo with the al Qaeda thugs there, involved shopping centers as potential targets of violence.

Then have these potential merchants of death gotten any family members and Middle East Buddies hired as so called Security Guards? If so those guys should be carted off and investigated very quickly and thoroughly!

[TexKat]

Feds sweep malls for terror funding links
June 27, 2002 Posted: 9:32 PM EDT (0132 GMT)






WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Federal agents conducted sweeps of shopping malls around the country this week and questioned more than 60 people in a search for possible sources for terrorism funding, officials said Thursday.

The joint investigation by the FBI and Immigration and Naturalization Service apparently targeted Pakistanis operating or working at jewelry kiosks in malls.

Among the things investigators were looking for was whether money was being sent back to Pakistan to fund terror operations, officials said.

No evidence was found to support the allegation and no criminal charges were filed, they said, although the INS placed some of the people in custody for immigration violations.

The sweep -- which began Wednesday -- took place in Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Atlanta, Dallas and other cities, including at least one in Connecticut, authorities told CNN.

Tariq Hussain, a Pakistani native who works at his brother's jewelry kiosk at the Mall at Robinson in Pittsburgh, told CNN affiliate WTAE that FBI and INS agents questioned him about Osama bin Laden.

"They asked me, 'Do you know him? Do you know anybody who knows him or is linked to him?'" Hussain said.

"They were trying to say that 'we'll put you in jail if you're linked to Osama.' I said, 'Go do what you got to do, because if I'm straight, I'm straight.'"

Hussain said the agents searched his apartment and asked him about photographs he took in New York.

"While we were in Times Square, I took pictures in Times Square, NASDAQ building or something," said Hussain. "They said, 'Why you took that picture? You planning to attack there or something?'"

[Mo1]

These diamond link stories are interesting

My neighbor mentioned once that the store she had worked for was selling these diamonds .. that was one of the reasons she left .. another being that she found out that the were owned by the moonies

I wonder is there a list of Jewerly Stores that sell these diamonds??

[watchwoman]

PING - This is close to home!