NY Man Charged With Trying To Fund Terror

(CBS/AP)  Terrorism charges brought Friday against the administrator of a loan investment program claimed that he secretly tried to send $152,000 to the Middle East to buy equipment such as night vision goggles for a terrorist training camp in Afghanistan.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 53, of Ardsley, N.Y., pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court in Manhattan to an indictment accusing him of terrorism financing, material support of terrorism and other charges. The charges carried a potential penalty of 95 years in prison.

Alishtari, also known as Michael Mixon, was detained pending a court appearance next week after Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan S. Kolodner said Alishtari was a danger to the community and a risk to flee. He was arrested on Thursday in Manhattan, prosecutors said.

Alishtari's court-appointed lawyer, Richard Greenfield, said he was not familiar enough with the case to present a bail package. Outside court, Greenfield declined to comment.

The indictment said Alishtari tried to support terrorists between June and December by accepting an unspecified amount of money to transfer $152,000 that he believed was being sent to Pakistan and Afghanistan to support an Afghanistan terrorist training camp.

He believed the money would be used to fund the purchase of night vision goggles and other equipment, the indictment said.

He was also charged with money laundering for allegedly causing the transfer on Aug. 17 of about $25,000 from a bank account in New York to a bank account in Montreal, Canada. The money was to be used to provide material support to terrorist, prosecutors said.

The indictment also charged him with wire fraud conspiracy and wire fraud. It said he devised a scheme to administer and promote a fraudulent loan investment program known as "Flat Eletronic Data Interchange" through which Alishtari and others fraudulently obtained millions of dollars from investors by promising high guaranteed rates of return.

CBS News has confirmed that Alishtari is a donor to the Republican Party, as he claims on his curriculum vitae. Alishtari gave $15,500 to the National Republican Campaign Committee between 2002 and 2004, according to Federal Election Commission records. That amount includes $13,000 in 2003, a year when he claims to have been named NRCC New York State Businessman of the Year.

Alishtari also claims to be a lifetime member of the National Republican Senate Committee's Inner Circle, which the NRCC describes as "an impressive cross-section of American society – community leaders, business executives, entrepreneurs, retirees, and sports and entertainment celebrities – all of whom hold a deep interest in our nation's prosperity and security."

[recon1955]

I read all of the comments and I have kept up with this story, I feel sorry for all of the people he took STOLE money from, this guy is worse than Madoff because he hides behind religion. I read his "Resume" but as he called it his "Curriculum Vitae" written by he himself and with money you can get any award and with money you can be all the big shot you want and open all of the corps you want, but NONE of it was his money he took it from innocent people and this is a tragedy, and as I understand it from all of the articles I have read he used the money to live very large.

This man does not even have a college degree and created him self at the expense of others and I believe some how justice should be served to all of the people he stole money from. This is another part of American Greed and I am sorry this man had to do it behing a religion that already has a hard time in America. His name is Michael Mixon and he is from Harlem, he used religion as a front to get people to believe him while living off of others.

[dailykos1]

So Al Qaeda was in Iraq -- arriving with the GOP henchmen and profiteers the moment our boots hit the sand!

[onit2day]

To notproperly. comment: If the shoe fits. The amount of *** the GOP has put out there, the corruption, the lies, the hypocrisy is just overwhelming. "Always whipping the nazi party. If the social democrats did something like this you wouldn't hardly mention it". Get it. You can't just shut your eyes and ears because you don't want it to be that way. If you care about your party then do things to straighten it out not justify it or ignore it's ***. Can't ignore the relationship Bush family has with the Saudis who are Sunni...the list goes on and on and on and needs sunshine.

[onit2day]

To formrusmcsgt. comment: If the shoe fits. The amount of *** the GOP has put out there, the corruption, the lies, the hypocrisy is just overwhelming. "Always whipping the nazi party. If the social democrats did something like this you wouldn't hardly mention it". Get it. You can't just shut your eyes and ears because you don't want it to be that way. If you care about your party then do things to straighten it out not justify it or ignore it's ***. Can't ignore the relationship Bush family has with the Saudis who are Sunni...the list goes on and on and on and needs sunshine.

[jennperry1]

The importance of his party affiliation is that the NY Post and other right wing sympathetic news papers were identifying this terrorist as a "peace activist" to give the impression that he was against the republican party and the Bush administration and the war in Iraq.. thereby lending credulity to the administrations claims that taking a stand against the war encourages terrorists.

What this terrorist is an example of, is that the Bush administration is allowing the sacrifice of our service men and women to be exploited. Just as our nation has been up for sale to the highest bidder since he took office, this war is little more than an opportunity for him to allow his cronies to bleed this country's tax dollars.

[sarekofvulca]

About those Werewolves: rather than being feared warriors, they seem to have ended up as something of a joke. Anybody have hard evidence to dispute this article? http://www.slate.com/id/2087768/

[frankbowers]

Why any one would think that if he had given to the Democrat Party members this would not have happened to him THE FACT IS HE DID NOT GIVE ENOUGHT TO D. CHENEY AND gwb AND NOW YOU GUYS ARE COPLAINING.Now lets us be serious.The democrats like many of us find this very sickening for you to think such garbage and the sooner you stop blaming all the RNC and gwb problems on the democrats you will be better off and can sleep better.I as a christan myself wonder about you and how many of you claim to be a christian remember the old remark turn the other cheek. The best f good byes Frnk Bowers in Austin, TX

[kba78]

just go's to show you dont now who to trust anymore !

[austin2223]

NY man charged with trying to fund terror, Muslim`s can not lie to infidels they can say black is white,with a clear conscience, its there beliefs in a court of law they can deny any thing.The only reason they can justify selling you sustenance (food)because your an infidel there get out clause with there book, conversion its the only way they can live amongst us. Or else there religion would condemn them to death

[formrusmcsgt]

Answer the question, whether or not we%u2019ve lost already: would/do you want us to win?
Posted by jdweymouth at 11:44 AM : Feb 17, 2007

Of course I would wish to see our warriors not wasted as they are being now. But four years of failure give us no concrete reason to expect anything but more of the same.

Continuing bad strategy is like starting off on a trip in the wrong direction and convincing yourself that if you just drive long enough in that wrong direction, you arrive at your destination anyway.