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(AP) — Some highlights from an FBI affidavit filed in federal court in New Jersey, outlining the alleged plot to smuggle a shoulder-launched missile into the United States: _Investigation began in December 2001, when a "cooperating witness" or informant under federal law enforcement control began talking with the alleged arms dealer, Hemant Lakhani, about obtaining anti-aircraft guns and missiles. The witness told Lakhani he was representing a Somali group that wanted to buy one missile initially "with a purchase of a greater number of missiles to follow." _Between Dec. 2001 and Aug. 13, 2003, more than 150 conversations between Lakhani...

<p>An Indian national pleaded guilty yesterday to conspiring to transmit money for an accused arms broker, but said he did not realize the payment was for missiles sold to terrorists.</p> <p>Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, 40, who lived in Malaysia, was arrested Aug. 12 as he and Yehuda Abraham, a New York jeweler, prepared to accept hundreds of thousands of dollars and transmit the money overseas from Abraham's office.</p>

NEW YORK - A New York Jewish diamond dealer pleaded guilty on Tuesday to charges that he unwittingly handled a $30,000 payment for smugglers of a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile who intended to shoot down U.S. airliners. Yehuda Abraham, 76, could be fined up to $250,000 and sentenced to up to five years in prison for operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, according to the U.S. Attorney in Newark, New Jersey. Abraham was arrested last August in an FBI sting operation that also netted a British arms dealer charged with trying to sell the missile to an FBI informant at a...

NEWARK, March 30 - A 76-year-old New York jeweler pleaded guilty on Tuesday to operating an illegal money-transferring business in what prosecutors said was a scheme to provide terrorists with shoulder-fired missiles that could bring down commercial aircraft. Prosecutors conceded that he did not know what the transaction involved. The jeweler, Yehuda Abraham, admitted in Federal District Court here that his business handled a $30,000 down payment in the sale of the 40-pound, Russian-made Igla-S portable missile. He entered the plea without any agreement to cooperate with the United States attorney and testify in what has become an important anti-terrorism...

An alleged missile broker arrested in New Jersey suggested to his buyer that the weapons be launched simultaneously against 15 U.S. jetliners and offered to deliver a radioactive "dirty bomb" for use against Americans, federal authorities said yesterday. Prosecutors announced the new allegations after a grand jury sitting in Newark returned a five-count indictment against the man, Hemant Lakhani. The 69-year-old London resident was arrested Aug. 12 at a hotel near Newark Liberty International Airport after he thought he had delivered an Igla shoulder-fired missile to a Somali terrorist who said he wanted to down U.S. planes. Officials said the...

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) -- A bail hearing for a man facing terrorism charges in an alleged missile-smuggling plot was postponed Thursday so that prosecutors could present a witness to bolster accusations that the defense claimed were vague. Meanwhile, defendant Hemant Lakhani will remain held without bail. The hearing was set to resume next Thursday. U.S. Attorney Christopher J. Christie said Thursday that Lakhani confessed after his arrest and can be heard on more than 150 covertly recorded conversations and seen in some videotapes, at one point actually handling a missile he knew was sought by a terrorist group to shoot...

Bail set for suspect in smuggling plot 8/16/2003 3:20 PM By: Capital News 9 web staff The only U.S. citizen arrested in an alleged arms smuggling plot is eligible for release on $10 million bail. A judge ruled Friday that Manhattan diamond dealer Yehuda Abraham must remain in federal custody in until court officials interview at least 10 friends and relatives willing to post bond. Abraham is among three men arrested after an international sting operation in which a Briton allegedly tried to sell a shoulder-fired missile to an undercover agent posing as a terrorist.

NEWARK -- A man facing terrorism charges in a missile-smuggling plot will have another week to arrange a possible bail package. Hemant Lakhani was to have a bail hearing yesterday, but his lawyer wanted more time, said Michael Drewniak, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office. Lakhani, 68, of London, was arrested with two others Aug. 12 in a sting operation and charged with trying to provide material support to terrorists and dealing arms without a license. The first charge carries up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine; the second, 10 years and $1 million. Prosecutors said...

In the terrorism business, it seems, diversity is all the rage. What Hemant Lakhani, an international arms dealer of British nationality and Indian ethnicity, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, a Muslim from Malaysia, and Yehuda Abraham, a Jewish-American gem dealer who works out of New York City's diamond district, have in common is that they are all being held in connection with a plot to purchase surface-to-air missiles on behalf of terrorists. Except that the alleged terrorists they were dealing with were really FBI agents and informants, who had been tracking them for over a year in an effort to smoke out...

By JEFFREY GOLD Associated Press Writer NEWARK, N.J. (AP)--The only U.S. citizen arrested in a suspected arms smuggling plot is eligible for release on $10 million bail, a judge ruled Friday. Yehuda Abraham, 76, a Manhattan diamond dealer, will remain in federal custody until court officials interview at least 10 friends and relatives willing to post his bond. Federal prosecutors wanted Abraham held without bail on a charge of conspiring to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business. He was among three men arrested Tuesday after an international sting. The accusations center on Hemant Lakhani, a 68-year-old Briton charged with trying...

Orthodox Jewish Gem Dealer Is Said to Aid Scheme on Terrorist Funds Yehuda Abraham is a slight, stooped 76-year-old gem dealer, with a house in Queens, an office in New York's diamond district and shops around the world. One night last October, prosecutors say, a client entered Mr. Abraham's 12th-floor Midtown office and handed him $30,000 in hundred dollar bills, an odd, if believable transaction in the world of international gem dealers. Mr. Abraham, by the government's account, counted out every note, then gave the client his business card. But this was not a jewelry sale, prosecutors allege. It was...

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) - A suspected arms dealer was arraigned Wednesday on federal charges that he allegedly tried to sell shoulder-fired missiles to an undercover agent posing as a Muslim terrorist bent on shooting down an airliner. Hemet Lakhani, 68, a Briton described as a "significant international arms dealer," was ordered held without bail pending a custody hearing Monday. He is charged with attempting to provide material support and resources to terrorists and acting as an arms broker without a license. His lawyer refused to comment on the case after the hearing. Another defendant, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, was ordered held...

NEWARK, New Jersey - An American Jew was among three suspects nabbed for allegedly attempting to smuggle a missile to terror groups operating inside the United States in order to down commercial aircraft. But the smuggling attempt was in fact a sting operation orchestrated over the past 18 months by U.S., Russian and British authorities. Terrorism-related charges were leveled on Wednesday against a British arms dealer who praised Osama bin Laden and thought he was smuggling into the United States missiles, federal prosecutors announced. Two other suspected accomplices to the plot, inlcuding Yehuda Abraham, who is Jewish, face conspiracy charges,...