New York Accountant Guilty of Assisting Al Qaeda!
Interesting Article: "New York accountant pleads guilty to terror charges" by The Telegraph / New York published Tuesday, June 5th, 2012
An interesting article mentioned that a New York accountant accused by US authorities of helping al Qaeda with computer systems pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court to terrorism-related charges. Sabirhan Hasanoff, 36, a dual US and Australian citizen who owns a home in Brooklyn, New York, was arrested in April 2010 and charged with conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda. Would you like to know more?
At a hearing in US District Court in Manhattan, Hasanoff told Judge Kimba Wood that between 2007 and 2010 he agreed to give support to the militant Islamist network. He faces up to 20 years in prison. Before his arrest Hasanoff had been a group chief financial officer for a Dubai-based company for 3-1/2 years.
At a hearing weeks after his arrest, federal prosecutor John Cronan said Hasanoff's "advanced computer knowledge," as well as his two passports, made him a prime asset to the militant group.
Hasanoff had helped Al Qaeda since at least November 2007, when he accepted $50,000 from an unidentified co-conspirator who was not charged along with Hasanoff, prosecutors said. Originally, Mr. Hasanoff was indicted by a grand jury along with another man accused of being a co-conspirator, Wesam El-Hanafi. El-Hanafi’s case is pending, prosecutors said on Monday. As part of the conspiracy described by prosecutors, El-Hanafi went to Yemen in 2008 and met with members of Al Qaeda who instructed him on operational security measures and directed him to perform unspecified tasks for the group. In Yemen, he also declared allegiance to Al Qaeda, the indictment said. At roughly the same time, the indictment said, Hasanoff performed tasks for Al Qaeda and told the unidentified co-conspirator not to fill the conspirator’s passport pages with stamps to maintain the document’s value to Al Qaeda. In 2009, the indictment said, El-Hanafi bought seven digital watches over the Web and had them delivered to his home in Brooklyn. Prosecutors said in 2010 that the two had not been involved in an active plot. Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said then that the two had sought to “modernize Al Qaeda” with technological assistance.
In court on Monday, a crowd of Hasanoff’s family members and friends filled rows of benches in the gallery. As the defendant entered, escorted by United States marshals, he flashed a quick smile to those supporters before turning to face the judge and acknowledging his guilt.
The investigation uncovered evidence that Hasanoff and his co-defendant had used code words on Internet chats in 2009 about fighting jihad and finding other al Qaeda contacts, prosecutors said.
References:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/nyregion/sabirhan-hasanoff-pleads-guilty-to-qaeda-support.html?_r=1
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/qaeda_computer_creep_pleads_guilty_l2roVUeke4FCBHgz3LvDFL#ixzz1x15AfAxb
An interesting article mentioned that a New York accountant accused by US authorities of helping al Qaeda with computer systems pleaded guilty on Monday in federal court to terrorism-related charges. Sabirhan Hasanoff, 36, a dual US and Australian citizen who owns a home in Brooklyn, New York, was arrested in April 2010 and charged with conspiracy to provide material support to al Qaeda. Would you like to know more?
At a hearing in US District Court in Manhattan, Hasanoff told Judge Kimba Wood that between 2007 and 2010 he agreed to give support to the militant Islamist network. He faces up to 20 years in prison. Before his arrest Hasanoff had been a group chief financial officer for a Dubai-based company for 3-1/2 years.
At a hearing weeks after his arrest, federal prosecutor John Cronan said Hasanoff's "advanced computer knowledge," as well as his two passports, made him a prime asset to the militant group.
Hasanoff had helped Al Qaeda since at least November 2007, when he accepted $50,000 from an unidentified co-conspirator who was not charged along with Hasanoff, prosecutors said. Originally, Mr. Hasanoff was indicted by a grand jury along with another man accused of being a co-conspirator, Wesam El-Hanafi. El-Hanafi’s case is pending, prosecutors said on Monday. As part of the conspiracy described by prosecutors, El-Hanafi went to Yemen in 2008 and met with members of Al Qaeda who instructed him on operational security measures and directed him to perform unspecified tasks for the group. In Yemen, he also declared allegiance to Al Qaeda, the indictment said. At roughly the same time, the indictment said, Hasanoff performed tasks for Al Qaeda and told the unidentified co-conspirator not to fill the conspirator’s passport pages with stamps to maintain the document’s value to Al Qaeda. In 2009, the indictment said, El-Hanafi bought seven digital watches over the Web and had them delivered to his home in Brooklyn. Prosecutors said in 2010 that the two had not been involved in an active plot. Preet Bharara, the United States attorney in Manhattan, said then that the two had sought to “modernize Al Qaeda” with technological assistance.
In court on Monday, a crowd of Hasanoff’s family members and friends filled rows of benches in the gallery. As the defendant entered, escorted by United States marshals, he flashed a quick smile to those supporters before turning to face the judge and acknowledging his guilt.
The investigation uncovered evidence that Hasanoff and his co-defendant had used code words on Internet chats in 2009 about fighting jihad and finding other al Qaeda contacts, prosecutors said.
References:
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/05/nyregion/sabirhan-hasanoff-pleads-guilty-to-qaeda-support.html?_r=1
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/qaeda_computer_creep_pleads_guilty_l2roVUeke4FCBHgz3LvDFL#ixzz1x15AfAxb
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