Posted on 11/17/2002 7:50:10 PM PST by T Ruth
About 100 agents swarmed across an International Drive business empire and burst into an Isleworth mansion Thursday, arresting a wealthy and prominent leader of the local Arab-American community and four others on charges of money-laundering and immigration violations.
Later, in federal court, a prosecutor hinted at more ominous connections to come in the case, saying that millionaire Palestinian-American businessman and philanthropist Jesse Issa Maali should be held without bail because he has "financial ties to Middle Eastern organizations who advocate violence."
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Charged in a 55-count federal indictment unsealed Thursday were Maali, 57, of Windermere and one of his longtime business partners, Mohammed Saleem Khanani, 51, of Orange County.
The two operate a chain of clothing stores, and T-shirt and gift shops throughout the area including Big Bargain World, the Sports Dominator, Jeans Unlimited Inc., Denim Unlimited Inc., Barakat Corp. and Barakat International Inc.
The morning raids hit a dozen businesses in the International Drive and U.S. Highway 192 tourist corridors as well as Maali's $3 million, lakefront estate in the exclusive Isleworth community in west Orange County. Officers from at least seven law-enforcement agencies could be seen hauling boxes of records out of the businesses, and the 10,500-square-foot, seven-bedroom mansion was still sealed off with crime-scene tape by late afternoon.
'Operation Thunderdome'
The probe was dubbed "Operation Thunderdome" in an apparent reference to the blue-domed roofs on many of Maali's shops.
The charges alleged that from January 1999 to December 2001, Maali and Khanani used their businesses to lure 53 illegal immigrants -- primarily from Asia and northern Africa -- to work for their stores in the Orlando area. The indictment said the businessmen paid the employees through four "shell companies" to help conceal the illicit activities from the Immigration and Naturalization Service. Other documents filed in the case called the operation "a large criminal enterprise."
Prominent businessman
Maali is a well-known local fund-raiser for Middle Eastern charities, and was named an honorary Orange County deputy sheriff in 1996. He was cited for "exemplary citizenship, support of the Sheriff's Office and dedication to the principles of law and order and justice in America."
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Beary and Carolyn Adams, head of the U.S. Attorney's Office in Orlando, said the probe had nothing to do with race or ethnicity. Beary, who said his agency has worked to forge close ties with the Arab-American community, noted that the local Arabs assisted in the investigation.
"No one was targeting anybody," Beary said. "If you're doing crime, we're going to come after you."
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At a bail hearing Thursday, Assistant U.S. Attorney Cynthia Hawkins Collazo asked that all five men be held without bail -- a request usually reserved for violent offenders, large-scale drug dealers or defendants likely to flee.
It was Collazo who made the statement linking Maali's finances to Middle Eastern violence, but she did not elaborate.
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Collazo's remarks caused such a stir in the packed hearing that U.S. Magistrate David Baker had to shout for order in the court.
Maali attorney Mark NeJame said Collazo was wrongfully tarring a U.S. citizen who employs 800 workers, has 100 local relatives and is no threat to the community.
"They [prosecutors] do this every time, and every time there has been nothing to it," NeJame said after the hearing.
Baker ordered all five men held at the Seminole County Jail until Monday so three other defendants can be appointed lawyers.
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Twenty three of the illegal workers listed in the indictment are from Pakistan. Others came from countries ranging from Moldavia, Egypt, Morocco, India, Italy, Peru and Britain, the indictment said.Before and after the hearing, several spectators -- many of Middle Eastern heritage -- complained that the charges were ethnically motivated, and were particularly upset that the raids came during Islam's holy month of Ramadan.
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Jim Leusner can be reached at 407-420-5411 or jleusner@orlandosentinel.com. Pedro Ruz Gutierrez can be reached at 407-420-5620 or pruz@orlandosentinel.com. Henry Pierson Curtis can be reached at 407-420-5257 or hcurtis@orlandosentinel.com.
(Excerpt) Read more at orlandosentinel.com ...
Yes, murdering Israeli babies must fill supporters of this terrorist with pride.
Well, they all have that! This should set the stage for internment.
Will never happen-- a government that is too scared to profile Arab males in the airports would never skip to that extreme step... even w/ reasonable suspicion.
-It was just reported on our local news that a relative of Jesse Maali is being investigated for a possible plot to kill an informant this past weekend.
-A decision has not been made in releasing Maali on bond or not. Prosecutors today revealed that they have evidence that Maali contributed to "charities" that support Al Quada and Hamas.
-Two weeks after 9/11/01, Maali transferred $650,000 to an Arab bank in NYC and since then it has disappeared. Prosecutors do not know where it went.
-US Marshals stormed the courtroom today and ordered everyone out due to a bomb threat targeting that specific courtroom. The result is another delay in determing whether Maali gets bond.
-There was another attempt on a DEA informant's life early this morning at 3:30AM. Bullets were fired at him but the murder attempt was unsuccessful. Maali's nephew Hassan is accused of this attempt along with another attempt this past Saturday.
Maali's family sure has a strange way of supporting him. They just make him look more guilty every day.
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