02-28-09 Daily Intel report
1. Army manual raises emphasis on electronic warfare
By JOHN MILBURN – Associated Press Feb 25, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2756
FORT LEAVENWORTH, Kan. (AP) — For the first time since the end of the Cold War, the Army is updating its manual for the electronic battlefield — a move aimed at protecting soldiers against roadside bombs and other nontraditional warfare used by increasingly sophisticated insurgents. The new doctrine, produced at Fort Leavenworth and set for release Thursday, provides what many Army leaders say is much-needed recognition of an evolving enemy. Highlighting that new era is the improvised explosive device, the remote-controlled bomb that has become the premier killer in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan…The 112-page manual, a copy of which was obtained by The Associated Press before its release at the Association of the United States Army meeting in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., doesn't offer specifics on new equipment or gadgetry but lays out in broad terms the Army's fear that without new equipment and training, U.S. forces may be at a deadly disadvantage…
2. Iran says conducts tests on Bushehr nuclear plant
Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:37am GMT Reuters
http://uk.reuters.com/article/oilRpt/idUKDAH52378320090225
BUSHEHR, Iran, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Iran has started tests on its Russian-built Bushehr nuclear power plant as part of preparations for its launch, an official said on Wednesday. The official, Mohsen Shirazi, said the visiting head of Russia's state nuclear company, Sergei Kiriyenko, and his Iranian counterpart were at the plant to inspect work that included injecting virtual fuel into rods. "This process started 10 days ago. Lead is used instead of nuclear fuel," Shirazi told reporters at the site.
FACTBOX: Iran's Bushehr nuclear plant
Wed Feb 25, 2009 9:08am EST Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE51O2NU20090225
Veteran Mideast Envoy Ross Named to Advise Clinton on Iran Strategy
By Glenn Kessler Washington Post Tuesday, February 24, 2009; A04
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2741
Dennis Ross, a longtime diplomatic troubleshooter, has been appointed as a special adviser to Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, with responsibility for developing a strategy for engaging Iran. The State Department notice of his appointment issued late last night did not mention Iran, and his official title is vague: adviser to the secretary of state for the Gulf and Southwest Asia. State Department officials said the title is a euphemism for Iran and issues affected by Iran's actions; it was kept obscure because Washington has not had diplomatic relations with Tehran since shortly after the Iranian revolution three decades ago…
'Bombed Syrian reactor now missile base'
Feb. 24, 2009 Associated Press, THE JERUSALEM POST http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2743
Syria has revealed that it has built a missile facility over the ruins of what the US says was a nuclear reactor destroyed by IAF warplanes, diplomats said Tuesday. The diplomats quoted Syrian nuclear chief Ibrahim Othman as saying during a closed meeting Tuesday that the new structure appeared to be a missile control center or actual launching pad. They demanded anonymity for divulging details about what Othman told the International Atomic Energy Agency's 35-nation board…
3. Syrian arms dealer sentenced to 30 years
Tue Feb 24, 2009 7:46pm EST by Christine Kearney Reuters
http://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSTRE51N6SH20090225
IPT NOTE: The gov't's press release is posted at http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/nys/pressreleases/February09/kassarsentencingp...
NEW YORK (Reuters) - A Syrian native whom U.S. prosecutors called one of the world's most prolific arms dealers for decades was sentenced to 30 years in prison on Wednesday for conspiring to sell weapons to Colombian rebels. Monzer al-Kassar, 63, a longtime resident of Spain known as the "Prince of Marbella" for his lifestyle in the glitzy seaside town, was convicted in November of agreeing to sell millions of dollars of weapons to the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC… Moreno Godoy, a 60-year-old Chilean, was sentenced to 25 years in prison. A federal jury convicted Kassar of masterminding the deal that included 15 surface-to-air missiles, and thousands of assault and sniper rifles and rocket propelled grenade launchers for a profit of $1 million…
An Arms Dealer Is Sentenced to 30 Years in a Scheme to Sell Weapons to Terrorists
By BENJAMIN WEISER February 25, 2009 New York Times
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/25/us/25arms.html?
A federal judge in Manhattan sentenced an arms dealer to 30 years in prison on Tuesday, finding overwhelming evidence that he and an associate had agreed to sell huge quantities of weapons "to what they believed was a terrorist organization who would use those weapons, among other things, to kill Americans and to wreak havoc," the judge said...
4. INSIDE THE RING
Thursday, February 26, 2009 Washington Times Bill Gertz
http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/feb/26/inside-the-ring-20218668/pri...
China intelligence gaps
The commander of U.S. forces in the Pacific says he is concerned about the lack of strategic information available on China's military forces despite U.S. spy agencies identifying Beijing's military as a key collection target. "There are more gaps than I'd like to discuss here," Adm. Timothy J. Keating, the commander of U.S. Pacific Command, told reporters in Hong Kong on Feb. 18. Adm. Keating went on to identify key Chinese military developments that are a concern, including a submarine buildup, "area denial" weapons, such as using long-range ballistic missiles to target aircraft carriers; anti-satellite weapons and cyberwarfare efforts...
Defense budget work
Pentagon officials are working behind the scenes to finish the latest annual defense budget to be sent to Congress in the next several weeks. Budget officials have been asked by the new administration to fit all programs into a total spending request of about $527 billion…
5. Chinese man found guilty of illegally exporting sensitive thermal-imagine technology to China
US Dep' of Justice US Attorney Thomas P. O'Brien, Central District of Calif Feb 23, 2009
http://www.usdoj.gov/usao/cac/pressroom/pr2009/014.html
LOS ANGELES – A Chinese national was found guilty today of two federal charges related to a plot to procure and export thermal-imaging cameras to the People's Republic of China without obtaining the necessary licenses…
6. 'Combatant' Case to Move From Tribunal To U.S. Court
By Carrie Johnson and Julie Tate Washington Post Friday, February 27, 2009; A01
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2757
The Justice Department is preparing to announce criminal charges against Ali Saleh Kahlah al-Marri for allegedly providing material support to al-Qaeda terrorists, sources said, a groundbreaking step that would place the alleged sleeper agent in the purview of the U.S. courts rather than before a military tribunal. Marri is the last remaining "enemy combatant" in the United States, and he has spent 5 1/2 years in a military brig in South Carolina. Indicting him in a federal district court in central Illinois could avert a Supreme Court ruling that would tie the Obama administration's hands in dealing with future terrorism suspects. Lawyers for Marri said yesterday that they will press ahead for a Supreme Court hearing in April, hoping to use his case as a vehicle to formally repudiate the Bush administration's position that enemy combatants can be held indefinitely by U.S. authorities. Justice Department officials are expected to argue that their decision to seek an indictment of Marri renders the Supreme Court case moot and that it should be dismissed, said the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because the case is at a delicate stage…
7. Ohio man sentenced to 20 years for terrorism conspiracy to bomb targets in Europe and the United States
US Attorney's Office SOUTHERN DISTRICT OF OHIO Feb 26, 2009
http://cincinnati.fbi.gov/doj/pressrel/2009/ci022609.htm
IPT NOTE: The judgment is posted at http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/776.pdf
WASHINGTON – Christopher Paul, a/k/a Abdul Malek, a/k/a Paul Kenyatta Laws, a 44-year-old U.S. citizen born in Columbus, Ohio, was sentenced to 20 years in prison today for conspiring with others to use a weapon of mass destruction, namely explosive devices, against targets in Europe and the United States… In the early 1990s, Paul traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan to join the mujahedeen. At an al Qaeda training camp in Afghanistan, he received initial training in, among other things, the use of assault rifles, rocket-propelled grenades, and small unit tactics. After successfully completing this training, he joined al Qaeda and stayed at the Beit ur Salam guesthouse, which was exclusively for al Qaeda members. Having distinguished himself to al Qaeda, Paul was then selected for and obtained advanced training in explosives, climbing, and military history. Paul then fought in Afghanistan alongside other mujahedeen...
8. Bail Set for Man Arrested by Terrorism Task Force
NBCLosAngeles.com Feb 25, 2009
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/29371563/
SANTA ANA, Calif. -- A magistrate set bail at $500,000 Tuesday for a Tustin man accused by federal prosecutors of lying about familial links to terrorists but defended by supporters as a victim of harassment because he refused to become an informant. In deciding whether to set bail for 34-year-old Ahmadullah Sais Niazi, U.S. Magistrate Arthur Nakazato commented that a person cannot chose one's relatives, but he also said he was "extremely troubled" by the statements of FBI Agent Thomas J. Ropel III, who testified that Niazi called Osama bin Laden "an angel."… Ropel testified that Niazi made statements to a confidential informant at an Irvine mosque where the two talked about jihad, blowing up buildings and sending money overseas. The FBI agent said Niazi had instigated the conversations with the informant, who was posing as a convert to Islam and recorded the conversations… According to CAIR, Niazi insists the charges are in retaliation for his refusal to become an FBI informant.
Man says he was informant for FBI in Orange County
He identifies himself in a court filing as having infiltrated mosques in Orange County on behalf of the agency.
By Teresa Watanabe and Scott Glover February 26, 2009 Los Angeles Times
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2758
As federal authorities press their case against a Tustin man accused of lying about ties to Al-Qaeda, they disclosed this week that some evidence came from an informant who infiltrated Orange County mosques and allegedly recorded the defendant discussing jihad, weapons and plans to blow up abandoned buildings. On Wednesday, a man who claims to be that informant stepped forward, filing court documents saying that he had served as a confidential informant for the FBI from July 2006 to October 2007 to identify and thwart terrorist operations in the Orange County Islamic community…
Man claims he informed on O.C. Muslims for FBI
Ex-convict says he infiltrated an Irvine mosque and helped build an immigration-fraud case against a Tustin man.
By SALVADOR HERNANDEZ, DOUG IRVING and SEAN EMERY
The Orange County Register Thursday, February 26, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2759
… The Irvine man – a convicted con artist – said he infiltrated local mosques under the persona of Farouk al-Aziz and recorded conversations about blowing up buildings and setting off explosives inside busy shopping centers. He said he did so under the guidance of agents from the FBI… Monteilh, 46, has been convicted of fraud and grand theft and recently served a prison sentence for conning two women out of more than $157,000. The Islamic Center of Irvine received a restraining order against him in 2007 after members complained that he was asking people "to join him in a terrorist plot," according to court documents. Monteilh said he came forward as an informant in an effort to clear his name and have the restraining order lifted. He filed court documents this week in which he claimed that he had been working for the Orange County Joint Terrorism Task Force…
9. Iraqi-Born Dutch Citizen Pleads Guilty to Terrorism Conspiracy Against Americans in Iraq
Defendant Also Agrees to Plead Guilty to Beating D.C. Prison Guard Unconscious
US ATTORNEY'S OFFICE, EASTERN DISTRICT OF VIRGINIA February 26, 2009
http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2009/February/09-nsd-168.html
WASHINGTON – An Iraqi-born Dutch citizen today pleaded guilty to conspiring with others to murder Americans overseas, including by planting roadside bombs targeting U.S. soldiers in Fallujah, Iraq, and by demonstrating on video how these explosives would be detonated to destroy American vehicles and their occupants. The guilty plea by Wesam al-Delaema, a/k/a Wesam Khalaf Chayed Delaeme, age 36, was announced today by Matthew G. Olsen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Jeffrey A. Taylor, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; and Joseph Persichini Jr., Assistant Director in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) Washington Field Office…
Dutch Man Accused of Planting Bombs in Iraq to Plead Guilty
By Del Quentin Wilber Washington Post Wednesday, February 25, 2009; 2:45 PM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2760
… Authorities have alleged that Delaema traveled to Iraq in 2003 and was a member of the Mujaheddin From Fallujah, which deployed roadside bombs against U.S. forces. On a videotape seized from his Dutch home, Delaema and other alleged insurgents were shown making, planting and discussing explosives intended to harm U.S. troops operating near Fallujah, authorities have said. On the video, Delaema said in Arabic that "this is not the first operation we carry out," prosecutors wrote in court papers…
10. Top aerospace university to set-up in Al Ain
Ivan Gale The National (UAE) Last Updated: February 23. 2009 7:07PM UAE
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2761
A leading aerospace university will set up a branch campus in Al Ain as early as this autumn under a partnership with Mubadala Development, an Abu Dhabi Government investment unit, and Northrop Grumann, the US defence contractor. The initiative to build a branch campus for Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, whose graduates include six astronauts, a US congressman and senior executives in the defence industry, is part of a broader effort to make Abu Dhabi an educational hub for the region…
11. Classified Documents Allowed in Espionage Trial
By Jerry Markon Washington Post Wednesday, February 25, 2009; A04
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2762
IPT NOTE: The court's opinion is posted at http://pacer.ca4.uscourts.gov/opinion.pdf/084358.P.pdf
A federal appeals court ruled yesterday that two former pro-Israel lobbyists accused of violating the Espionage Act can use classified information at trial, the latest setback for prosecutors in the closely watched case. The decision by the Richmond-based U.S. Court of Appeals for the 4th Circuit allows the former lobbyists for the American Israel Public Affairs Committee to introduce evidence from two classified government documents at their trial, scheduled for April 21. Attorneys for the lobbyists, Steven J. Rosen and Keith Weissman, consider the information crucial to the defense. Rosen and Weissman are charged with conspiring to obtain classified information and pass it to journalists and the Israeli government. In its ruling, a three-judge panel also declined to overturn a key 2006 decision by the trial judge. That ruling said the government must show that the two men "had bad faith purposes" in disclosing the information and that they knew it could damage the United States, a high bar for prosecutors, because criminal intent can be difficult to prove...
Lobbyists win classified leaks ruling
Eli Lake Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Washington Times
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2763
… Mr. Rosen and Mr. Weissman are the first private citizens prosecuted under the Espionage Act for mishandling classified information obtained through conversation, a precedent that, if upheld, could make much national security journalism and foreign-policy lobbying a federal crime. Advocates of more openness involving national-security matters said the ruling Tuesday could spell the end of the case…
12. Jewish Center attacked in Venezuela; no injuries
By CHRISTOPHER TOOTHAKER – Associated Press Feb 26, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2764
CARACAS, Venezuela (AP) — Assailants threw an explosive at a Jewish community center on Thursday, but nobody was hurt in the blast — the second assault against Venezuela's Jewish community this year. Abraham Garzon, president of the Jewish Community Center, told the local Globovision television news channel that a small explosive resembling a pipe-bomb was lobbed at the building in Caracas before dawn on Thursday. The explosion damaged the doors to the center... A Caracas synagogue was ransacked and vandalized last month. The assailants shattered religious objects, spray-painted "Jews, get out" on the temple's walls and stole a computer database containing names and addresses of Jews living in Venezuela…
Air, rail, port, health & communication infrastructure security
IPT NOTE: For more infrastructure news, see Dep't of Homeland Security Daily Open Source Infrastructure Reports http://www.dhs.gov/xinfoshare/programs/editorial_0542.shtm; Public Safety Canada Daily Infrastructure Report http://www.publicsafety.gc.ca/dir/index-eng.aspx
13. U.S. spy agency may get more cybersecurity duties
(Reuters) Posted on Wed Feb 25, 2009 8:23PM EST
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090226/wr_nm/us_security_usa_cyber_1
IPT NOTE: DNI Director Blair's Feb 25, 2009 prepared statement, "Annual Threat Assessment of the Intelligence Community for the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence," is posted at http://www.dni.gov/testimonies/20090225_testimony.pdf
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The spy agency that ran the Bush administration's warrantless eavesdropping program may get more responsibility for securing U.S. computer networks, President Barack Obama's intelligence chief told Congress on Wednesday. Director of National Intelligence Admiral Dennis Blair said the National Security Agency, which is responsible for codebreaking and electronic spying, should assume a greater role in cybersecurity because of its technological prowess and current role in detecting attacks…
14. No terror talk: Homeland Security head's new tone
By EILEEN SULLIVAN and MATT APUZZO – Associated Press 24 Feb 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2765
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano avoids mention of terrorism or 9/11 in remarks prepared for her first congressional testimony since taking office, signaling a sharp change in tone from her predecessors. Napolitano is the first homeland security secretary to drop the term "terror" and "vulnerability" from remarks prepared for delivery to the House Homeland Security Committee, according to a copy obtained by The Associated Press…
DHS secretary discusses department's IT programs
By Ben Bain Federal Computer Week Feb 25, 2009
http://fcw.com/articles/2009/02/25/napolitano-testimony.aspx
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano today indicated that the Homeland Security Department would not meet a deadline of 2012 that requires DHS to scan all cargo bound for U.S. seaports with non-intrusive imaging and radiation detection equipment before the cargo leaves for the United States. Napolitano also told a House panel that DHS would focus on improving intelligence sharing with state and local authorities…
Napolitano backs TSA body scanners
By Thomas Frank, USA TODAY Feb 26, 2009
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-02-25-Napolitano_N.htm
WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano endorsed the use of body scanners Wednesday to screen airline passengers despite concerns that the machines create vivid images of people under their clothing. Napolitano told the House Homeland Security Committee that body scanners are "actually less intrusive and easier" than being patted down by an airport screener. Last week, Tulsa International Airport became the first airport to use a body-scanning machine in place of a metal detector, which has been the main device to search airline passengers since screening began in 1973. The Transportation Security Administration plans to use the scanners in place of some metal detectors at five other airports, including San Francisco, Miami and Las Vegas, saying the machines detect plastic and liquid explosives that evade metal detectors...
Napolitano: DHS to miss cargo screening deadline
By EILEEN SULLIVAN – Associated Press Feb 25, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2766
WASHINGTON (AP) — Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told lawmakers Wednesday that the agency cannot meet its 2012 deadline for screening all cargo coming into the U.S. for radiological and nuclear materials…
15. Dead Fish and Powder Incident Leads to DHS Official's Suspension
By Jeff Stein | February 24, 2009 3:04 PM CQ Politics - Spy Talk
http://blogs.cqpolitics.com/spytalk/2009/02/dead-fish-and-powder-inciden...
It looks like Maureen McCarthy is dead in the water, at least for the moment. McCarthy, the DHS bioweapons official who caused a minor sensation earlier this month when she brought a mystery fish and white powder to her downtown office, is "on leave for awhile," according to a woman answering the phone in her office today. Asked when she might return, the woman in her office, who did not identify herself, said, "We really don't know." Two other sources familiar with the situation confirmed that McCarthy is on an indefinite leave, with pay...
16. Federal Grand Jury Returns 65-Count Indictment Against Man for Sending Threatening White Powder-Laced Hoax Letters to Banks
Department of Justice Press Release February 24, 2009
United States Attorney's Office Northern District of Texas
http://dallas.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/dl022409.htm
AMARILLO, TX—A federal grand jury in Amarillo returned an indictment today charging Richard Goyette, a/k/a Michael Jurek, 47, with one count of threats and false information and 64 counts of threats and hoaxes, announced acting U.S. Attorney James T. Jacks of the Northern District of Texas. Goyette has been in federal custody since his arrest on February 2, 2009, on a charge outlined in a federal criminal complaint related to his mailing 65 threatening letters to financial institutions from Amarillo in October 2008…
17. Bluffdale man facing charges for shining laser into cockpit
February 25th, 2009 @ 10:00pm By Jed Boal
http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=5696134
BLUFFDALE -- A Bluffdale man is facing federal charges after he admitted to shining a laser beam at an Apache helicopter near his home Thursday night. This isn't the first time someone has targeted aircraft in the area with a laser beam in Utah, but it is the first time a suspect will have to answer for the crime...
18. No jail or fine for Rockland man who said he was a federal agent
He used phony badge to bypass Logan security
By Allison Manning The Patriot Ledger Posted Feb 26, 2009 @ 05:22 AM
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2767
BOSTON — A Rockland man who impersonated a federal agent to bypass airport security has pleaded guilty in federal court in Boston. Stephen Grant, 48, was given two years' probation and a $100 special assessment, but no fines. He had already paid a $4,000 civil penalty. Grant faced up to three years in prison and a $250,000 fine after he showed his assistant harbor master badge at Logan Airport and said he worked for the Department of Homeland Security. By doing so, he was able to bypass airport security on his way to San Diego in January 2007, according to a court affidavit…
19. Napolitano inquiring into unionizing airport screeners
Audrey Hudson The Washington Times Thursday, February 26, 2009
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2768
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano doesn't have the answer, but the revelation Wednesday she has asked legal advisers whether she can grant collective-bargaining rights to airport screeners is giving hope to a union organizer...
20. Mexico shuts northern border airport in bomb scare
Wed Feb 25, 2009 7:04pm EST
http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN25512717
CIUDAD JUAREZ, Mexico, Feb 25 (Reuters) - Mexico closed an international airport in one of the most violent cities in the country's drug war on Wednesday after a bomb scare during a visit by government officials, the army said. An army spokesman said there had been a second bomb scare at a federal government building in Ciudad Juarez, across the border from El Paso, Texas, during an official visit by Interior Minister Fernando Gomez Mont and other officials attending a security meeting…
Financing, identity theft, money laundering
21. Recession, bailout, stimulus: US security threats?
By MATT APUZZO and EILEEN SULLIVAN – Feb 26, 2009 Associated Press
http://www.investigativeproject.org/ext/2769
WASHINGTON (AP) — Trillions of dollars in government spending might stabilize the economy, but for now it may have weakened some U.S. security interests abroad and hampered the nation's ability to respond financially to an attack at home. That curious conclusion by security and financial analysts reveals one of the unexpected consequences that could emerge from the government's bailout and stimulus plans. It also shows how intertwined the economy and national security have become. The top U.S. intelligence official, Dennis Blair, recently said the economy was the nation's foremost security concern…
Retail crime grows with demand for discounts - NRF
Tue Feb 24, 2009 5:26pm EST By Alexandria Sage
http://www.reuters.com/article/governmentFilingsNews/idUSN24416593200902...
SAN FRANCISCO, Feb 24 (Reuters) - A mass of buyers for hot new products at huge discounts is fueling organized retail crime -- giving "hot" a darker meaning on the Internet, swap meets or flea markets. High on the list are the latest video games or trendiest new handbags that can be easily resold, executives with the National Retail Federation, a U.S. trade group, said on Tuesday… Black markets for stolen goods can be deceptively bright: flea markets, swap meets and corner markets teeming with bargain hunters, as well as online auction sites like eBay Inc (EBAY.O) and classified sites like Craigslist.com, LaRocca said…
22. Interpal's US terrorism designation blamed for Lloyd's Bank decision
Vibeka Mair 25 February 2009
http://www.charityfinance.co.uk/home/content.php?id=2603&pg=15&cat=58
Lloyds TSB has blamed US government economic sanction laws for its decision to block Interpal's bank account last year. It's the first time that Lloyds, who has blocked clearing services for Interpal through its account with the Islamic Bank of Britain (IBB), has spoken out on the matter...
23. Digital Cash Entrepreneur Arrested for Stealing Millions from Customers
By Kim Zetter February 26, 2009 | 12:50:36 PM Wired News
http://blog.wired.com/27bstroke6/2009/02/digital-cash-ow.html
An entrepreneur who launched one of the first digital currency businesses that hit the internet was arrested Tuesday in South Carolina after returning from Mexico where he allegedly absconded seven years ago with millions of dollars from a fraudulent investment scheme, according to an indictment unsealed this week. Authorities say he and several unnamed co-conspirators stole an estimated $12.8 million from investors and have charged him with one count of conspiracy, one count of money laundering and three counts of wire fraud…
24. Professor, Wife Accused of Defrauding NASA of Hundreds of Thousands of Taxpayer Dollars
Wednesday, February 25, 2009 Fox News Mike Levine
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,500453,00.html
The FBI and NASA are investigating a University of Florida professor and his wife for allegedly defrauding NASA out of hundreds of thousands of taxpayer dollars for their own personal use. Iranian-born Samim Anghaie, 59, is the Director of the Innovative Nuclear Space Power and Propulsion Institute at the University of Florida. His wife, 55-year-old Sousan Anghaie, is president of New Era Technology Inc. (NETECH) in Gainesville, Fla. Authorities say Sousan Anghaie persuaded NASA to award her company "several fully funded contracts," including nearly $600,000 to develop and study a uranium-related technology.
