FBI arrests Hasan Qasem for sending money to Yemen [Archives:2006/924/Local News]
FLORIDA, Feb. 22 ) Sligh Avenue convenience store owner, Hasan Qasem was arrested Wednesday after being accused of illegally sending $53,000 to people in Yemen via Dearborn, Mich., travel agency, Arabian Horizon Travel and Tourism.
U.S. authorities also accused Qasem of illegally transferring $83,500 to the West Bank in Palestine and to Luxembourg. The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) investigated Qasem's store on the accusations because he sent money overseas in a manner considered to avoid government scrutiny.
According to the federal complaint, Qasem split his transactions into amounts less than $10,000 to avoid the threshold whereby financial institutions must report it to the Internal Revenue Service. The FBI said Qasem transmitted cash this way to people in Yemen, the West Bank and Luxembourg.
It said Qasem provided $53,000 to Arabian Travel from March to June 2004. The agency is the exclusive North American ticketing agent for Yemenia Airways, a Yemeni government-owned airline.
The affidavit listed nine wire transfers from 2002 to 2004 to Nablus in the West Bank and to Luxembourg, each for $8,500 or $9,500.
The affidavit gave several examples of what the FBI said were efforts to avoid the $10,000 reporting requirement. For example, the affidavit said Qasem bought two checks from SunTrust Bank on March 19, 2004. The checks, purchased four minutes apart, were for $5,373 and $4,670 for a total of $10,043, bringing the total to $19,000 for allowance to Yemen.
Qasem's wife Mary said she did not know about the charges and does not know anyone in Yemen, stating that she and her husband, who originally is from Palestine, have nothing to hide. “We don't know anything,” she added, “We'll have to figure it out and see what's going on.”
Mrs. Qasem said the FBI came to the store and the couple's nearby home around 7 a.m. Wednesday, staying until 11 a.m. searching the premises. As of late afternoon, she had not heard from her husband, who she said has lived in the area since 1977. “We try to lead a clean life,” she said.
FBI spokeswoman Carol Michalik said the agency's Tampa office executed search and arrest warrants in cooperation with the Detroit FBI. Michalik said no further statements would be released to the media.
Qasem is a U.S. citizen of Palestinian descent. He appeared in court February 23 before U.S. Magistrate Elizabeth Jenkins, who followed the recommendation of Assistant U.S. Attorney Jay Hoffer that she allow Qasem to be released on $20,000 bail. Although Qasem was represented by a federal public defender, Jenkins said he must hire a lawyer, as he has the financial resources to do so.
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