FBI Arrests Several With Ties To N. Texas Company

MSNBC ^ | 12/18/02

[areafiftyone]

DALLAS, 9:36 a.m. CST December 18, 2002 - The FBI says it has arrested a number of people with ties to a Richardson computer company, and accuses them of fund raising for terrorists.

The arrests are the result of a multiyear FBI investigation into Richardson computer company Infocom, and a Palestinian charity across the street, Holy Land Foundation.

FBI agents arrested Ghassan Elashi and three of his brothers Wednesday, NBC 5 reported.

[homeschool mama]

Good.

[areafiftyone]

Thank god Bush is in office.

[AgentEcho]

From the Dallas Business Journal - 9.11.01

http://dallas.bizjournals.com/dallas/stories/2001/09/10/daily14.html

[Texagirl4W]

The story is here.

[dc-zoo]

Holy Land Foundation.. had their asses frozen.

[FreeTheHostages]

"Thank God Bush is in office."

Praise Him.

[sinkspur]

Holy Land Foundation.. had their asses frozen.

Not in Richardson, Texas.

It's been in the 70s here all week.

[areafiftyone]

Nice weather. We are having a heat wave here in NYC today 31 and sunny!

[eureka!]

Methinks these arrests are going to be a common news item in the coming months, indeed perhaps years. The FBI has only been investigating for 13 months and these complex type cases take a long time to put together--especially under the standard of proof in criminal cases. Much like organized crime or drug cartels....

[zeaal]

Just days prior to 9/11/01 the North Texas Terrorism Task Force was on site at the Holy Land Foundation/Infocom. Truck loads of boxes were removed from their facilities.

[JRandomFreeper]

My office was just a couple of blocks away from the HLF/Infocom building. I knew several guys that worked with that crowd. I even called the FBI on a couple of them after 9-11.

It couldn't happen to a more appropriate bunch of thugs.

/john

[Nita Nuprez]

Background info on HLF, Marzook, and the Elashi family here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/804454/posts?page=23#23
(look for the red font)

[MeekOneGOP]

Thanks. Here's an update/Dallas Morning News version.....

http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/808609/posts?page=6#6

4 arrested in InfoCom probe

12/18/2002

By JIM DOUGLAS / WFAA-TV

Federal agents arrested four people early Wednesday morning in connection with an investigation into a Richardson computer company.

InfoCom is being investigated for possible ties to terrorism funding.

One Infocom employee has already been sentenced for illegal exporting to the Middle East.

Also Online

Video: Jim Douglas reports

InfoCom was the target of a three-day search by a federal terrorism task force in early September 2001.

Infocom provided Web support for Islamic groups around the world and its offices were across the street from the Holy Land Foundation, which was also investigated by federal authorities.

The Holy land Foundation was closed in December 2001 after the Treasury Department accused it of being a front for the terrorist group Hamas.

More information on the arrested is expected Wednesday afternoon from a news conference with the U.S. attorney general, the Justice Department and the FBI.

---

Online at: http://www.dallasnews.com/latestnews/stories/wfaa021218_gp_infocom.120ac86.html

[TomGuy]

About InfoCom Corporation

Born in 1982, InfoCom Corporation has grown into a global force providing computer, network, telecommunication, and Internet solutions for companies overseas as well as in the United States.

With a strategic move to Richardson, Texas (known as the “Telecom Corridor”), in 1992, InfoCom ideally positioned itself for the launching if its Internet Services Division in 1995. Since then, InfoCom has provided Internet solutions for companies worldwide to include setting up several overseas ISPs from the start to finish.

Currently, InfoCom provides a variety of solutions to include e-commerce, web hosting, web design and development services, network design and solution services, and internet consultation services.

InfoCom also exports large volume computer and information technology purchases to organizations around the world to include entire phone networks, pre-built ISP systems, as well as various technology components.

[rs79bm]

FROM FOX NEWS:

Federal agents in the Dallas area arrested four people Wednesday morning on suspicion of funneling funds to known terrorist organizations.

Two others remain at large, and a seventh suspect was already in custody.

One of the men arrested is Ghassan Elashi, chairman of the Dallas-based Holy Land Foundation, a source told Fox News. The Islamic charity's assets were frozen by the government last year in its crackdown on terror financing.

Elashi is said to have ties to the militant Palestinian group Hamas, and the government's probe of that Islamic charity continues.

The source said the arrest does not necessarily indicate that the Holy Land Foundation was involved in the alleged funnelling of funds, because officials believe Elashi may have been running some other charities or companies.

Elashi is reported to be the vice president of a computer technology firm in Richardson, Texas, whose owner -- Mousa Abu Marzouk -- is a senior leader of Hamas, law enforcement sources said.

Indications from several sources are that Marzouk will be charged with trying to hide hundreds of thousands of dollars in transactions behind his company's operations.

However, Marzouk appears to be one of the two suspects at large at this moment, and he may not be in the country.

Attorney General John Ashcroft was expected to reveal the charges against the seven at a news conference in the afternoon.

The indictments are still under seal at the Federal Courthouse in Dallas.

[TomGuy]

FoxNews just reported that essentially the same people who run the Holy Land Foundation also run InfoCom Corp.

[OldFriend]

Holy Land's D.C. attorney........Vernon Jordan!

[butter pecan fan]

My gosh, what was Clinton doing all that time he was in office?

He was getting BJ's in the Oral Office while on the phone to our congressmen.

But I thought you knew that already.