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Woodrow:
PORTLAND, Ore. - A U.S. arm of a large Saudi charity suspected by the government of supporting terrorism was indicted on fraud and tax charges, federal prosecutors said Thursday.

The three-count indictment charges Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation and its two officers, Pirouz Sedaghaty - also known as Pete Seda - and Soliman Al-Buthe with illegally sending $150,000 to Muslim fighters in Chechnya.

The Bush administration last September designated the charity as a group suspected of supporting terrorism through its main location in Ashland and a mosque in Springfield, Mo. Assets at both sites have been frozen since last February.

Sedaghaty had been living in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, but the whereabouts of Al-Buthe were unknown. There was no word on any arrests.

A federal grand jury indictment Wednesday alleges an Egyptian citizen contacted the foundation in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, seeking to donate money to Muslims in Chechnya. The indictment said $150,000 was transferred by wire to a foundation bank account in Ashland.

Al-Buthe flew from Saudi Arabia to Oregon, and then went to an Ashland bank with Sedaghaty, where the pair took out 130 $1,000 traveler's checks and a $21,000 cashier's check before Al-Buthe headed back overseas, according to the indictment.

The men are charged with filing a false tax return for 2000, when Sedaghaty reported the Egyptian donor's money was used to purchase a building in Missouri. They are also charged with failing to acknowledge they were transporting funds out of the United States.

"The system of charitable donations in the United States is built on trust, honesty and integrity," U.S. Attorney Karin Immergut said in a statement. "The Department of Justice has a duty to investigate and prosecute any cases where the trust is abused criminally."

Larry Matasar, the attorney for Sedaghaty, said that "as I've said before, Pete Seda is a man of peace. He has consistently and actively opposed terrorism."

Matasar said the foundation's application for incorporation in Oregon states the charity stands against terrorism and believes such conduct is contrary to Islamic principles.

The Saudi government dissolved Al-Haramain in June after complaints from the United States and other countries that it is suspected of funding the al-Qaida terror network led by Osama bin Laden. The Saudi government said it had no evidence the charity was financing terrorism.

© 2005 The Associated Press

http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A33365-2005Feb17?language=printer

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