WASHINGTON - Financial links exist between those who support attacks by Hamas in the Middle East and business ventures inside the United States, experts and legal sources say.
According to court documents, a Hamas leader invested money in an Oxon Hill, Md., neighborhood called Barnaby Knolls in the early 1990s. Documents show that investor Mousa Abu Marzook put down the money for the investment five years before he was named by the Treasury Department as a "specially designated terrorist" in August 1995.
Prior to his extradition from the United States, Marzook said he didn't consider himself a terrorist.
A recent trial in Alexandria, Va., showed the extent of Marzook's investments in the neighborhood through a now-bankrupt firm, Bait Ul-Mal, or BMI Inc. It was overseen by Egyptian businessman Soliman Biheiri, who was recently convicted of immigration violations.
Biheiri's lawyer denies terrorists benefited from his business transactions.
"It's nonsense. He wasn't funding terrorists," said Biheiri's lawyer, Nina Ginsburg. "There's no proof whatsoever that he ever contributed 10 cents to any terrorist activity."
Yeah, right. Al Capone was nothing more than a legitimate businessman being persecuted by the Feds. Alas, then the Judge gets involved:
The judge ruled that just because Marzook was a Hamas leader didn't mean that his investment funds were that of the terrorist organization.
Well, I guess that since he didn't have "Hamas Terrorist Fund" printed on his checks, he must be just another Arab investor and, of course, a peace loving Muslim. Exasperating, positively exasperating.
