Feds Move To Seize 4 Mosques, Skyscraper

Property Owned by Nonprofit Long Suspected of Illegally Funneling Money to Iranian Government

(CBS/ AP)  In what could be one of the biggest counterterrorism seizures in U.S. history, federal prosecutors sought to seize four U.S. mosques and a New York City skyscraper owned by a Muslim organization suspected of being controlled by the Iranian government.

Prosecutors on Thursday filed a civil complaint in federal court against the Alavi Foundation, seeking the forfeiture of more than $500 million in assets.

The assets include bank accounts; Islamic centers consisting of schools and mosques in New York, Maryland, California and Houston; more than 100 acres in Virginia; and a 36-story Manhattan office tower. Confiscating the properties would be a sharp blow against Iran, which the U.S. government has accused of bankrolling terrorism and trying to build a nuclear bomb.

A telephone call and e-mail to Iran's U.N. Mission seeking comment were not immediately answered.

John D. Winter, the Alavi Foundation's lawyer, said it intends to litigate the case and prevail. He said the foundation has been cooperating with the government's investigation for the better part of a year.

"Obviously the foundation is disappointed that the government has decided to bring this action," Winter told The Associated Press.

It is extremely rare for U.S. law enforcement authorities to seize a house of worship, a step fraught with questions about the First Amendment right to freedom of religion.

The action against the Shiite Muslim mosques is sure to inflame relations between the U.S. government and American Muslims, many of whom fear a backlash after last week's Fort Hood shooting rampage, blamed on a Muslim American major.

"Whatever the details of the government's case against the owners of the mosques, as a civil rights organization we are concerned that the seizure of American houses of worship could have a chilling effect on the religious freedom of citizens of all faiths and may send a negative message to Muslims worldwide," said Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for the Council on American-Islamic Relations.

It is unclear what will happen to the properties if the government ultimately prevails. But the government typically sells properties it seizes through forfeiture and sometimes distributes the money to crime victims.

Prosecutors said the Alavi Foundation managed the office tower on behalf of the Iranian government and, working with a front company known as Assa Corp., illegally funneled millions in rental income to Iran's state-owned Bank Melli. A U.S. Treasury official has accused Bank Melli of providing support for Iran's nuclear program, and it is illegal in the United States to do business with the bank.

U.S. attorney's office spokeswoman Yusill Scribner said there are no allegations of any wrongdoing on the part of the tenants or occupants of the properties, which will remain open.

CBS News foreign affairs analyst Pamela Falk says that if the forfeitures are carried out, they would be, "a serious blow to Iran, because it sends a message that Iran will not be allowed to bankroll terror on U.S. soil, and that counterterrorism prosecutions will not be confused with First Amendment rights."

"If federal prosecutors have the evidence, then the fact that a religious institution was seized will take a back seat," said Falk. "It doesn't matter if what is seized is a mosque or a parochial school in the U.S. - if there is a crime being committed, then it's not an issue of religious freedom."

U.S. officials have long suspected the Alavi Foundation was an arm of the Iranian government. A 97-page complaint details involvement in foundation business by several top Iranian officials, including the deputy prime minister and ambassadors to the United Nations.

"For two decades, the Alavi Foundation's affairs have been directed by various Iranian officials, including Iranian ambassadors to the United Nations, in violation of a series of American laws," U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara said in a statement.

There were no raids as part of the forfeiture action Thursday. The government is simply required to post notices of the civil complaint on the properties.

As prosecutors outlined their allegations against Alavi, the Islamic centers and the schools they run carried on with normal activity. The mosques' leaders had no immediate comment.

Parents lined up in their cars to pick up their children at the schools within the Islamic Education Center of Greater Houston and the Islamic Education Center in Rockville, Md. No notices of the forfeiture action were posted at either place as of late Thursday.

At the Islamic Institute of New York, a mosque and school in Queens, two U.S. marshals rang a doorbell repeatedly, taped a forfeiture notice to the window and left a large document on the ground. A group of men came out and took the document after the marshals left.

The fourth Islamic center marked for seizure is in Carmichael, Calif.

The skyscraper, known as the Piaget building, was erected in the 1970s under the shah of Iran, who was overthrown in 1979. Tenants include law and investment firms and other businesses.

The building, last valued in 2007 at $570 million to $650 million, has been an important source of income for the foundation over the past 36 years. Tax records show the foundation earned $4.5 million from rents in 2007. That money helps fund the centers and other ventures, such as sending educational literature to imprisoned Muslims in the U.S. The foundation also has invested in dozens of mosques around the country and supported Iranian academics at prominent universities.

If prosecutors seize the skyscraper, the foundation would have almost no way to continue supporting the Islamic centers, which house schools and mosques. That could leave a major void in Shiite communities, and hard feelings toward the FBI, which played a big role in the investigation.

The forfeiture action comes at a tense moment in U.S.-Iranian relations, with the two sides at odds over Iran's nuclear program and its arrest of three American hikers.

But Michael Rubin, an expert on Iran at the American Enterprise Institute, said the timing was probably coincidental and not an effort to influence Iran on those issues.

"Suspicion about the Alavi Foundation transcends three administrations," Rubin said. "It's taken ages dealing with the nuts and bolts of the investigation. It's not the type of investigation which is part of any larger strategy."

Legal scholars said they know of only a few previous cases in which law enforcement authorities have seized a house of worship. Marc Stern, a religious-liberty expert with the American Jewish Congress, called such cases extremely rare.

The Alavi Foundation is the successor organization to the Pahlavi Foundation, a nonprofit group the shah used to advance Iran's charitable interests in America. But authorities said its agenda changed after the fall of the shah.

In 2007, the United States accused Bank Melli of providing services to Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile programs and put the bank on its list of companies whose assets must be frozen. Washington has imposed sanctions against various other Iranian businesses.

[50BMS13]

Carry through on this Obama and it's a start. You're a nice guy, no doubt. We need to see action like this. It's a start. Please follow through.

[Sloughfoot]

Raze them and build tanks from the scrap steel.

[yappyone]

All mosques should be torn down! They are simply a den and distribution center for spreading thoughts of terror, destruction, and abuse!

[yappyone]

AWESOME! GREAT JOB! ISLAM IS NOT A RELIGION! IT IS A VERY DANGEROUS POLITICAL CULT!

[babooph]

Maybe a good start,now lets tax the US church property-so many are just political clubs& those not religious, unfairly pay extra tax on their own real estate to keep the farce going....

[YourVeryWrong]

Just as stock prices can be manipulated by a small circle of fraudulent "investors" who trade the stock until a "greater fool" comes along to buy it from them, so too a small circle of frauds can trade agit-prop on this board hoping that someone will believe their nonsense. Well, Marx is dead and Bin Laden lives in a hut. You're wasting your time, boys.

[YourVeryWrong]

I think that an attempt to change the subject from an attack on American military personnel to the WTC, ad nauseam, is not the workings of "a beautiful mind" but more likely the agit-prop of the Iranian criminal-mystic regime and its apologists.

[cattiej]

I would like to see the Feds arrest the guys that are standing on the street corners in New York City preaching hate against the U.S. They wouldn't get by with this in other countries. I'm darn tired of these people pushing our buttons. It is time for our Federal government to put a stop to this. I have written before, We have met the enemy and it was us. Hasan is just the tip of the iceberg. There are more like him and we need to find them and stop them from trying to destroy our country. If they don't like it here, then get out!

[brianp55]

Good. Let's convert them to either US military R&R facilities or convention centers for the B'nai Brith and Jewish League.

[50BMS13]

It's about time the US Gov't did something about Iran. Now go bomb their nuclear facilities before they make one and use it on Israel then we have WW#3.

[SocietysNightmare]

To: stn_sage & hermitdave


Ignore the idiots that posted responses to your posting. I would suggest that they view the documentary "Loose Change: 9/11". There is very compelling information contained in the documentary. If they view it and they are still convinced that the government had nothing to do with the events of 9/11, then there really is NO HELP FOR THEM just as STN_SAGE suggested.

[armyoftwelve]

Shocking, really shocking. Now the USG needs to take a long hard look at muslim "charities" backed by libya and the house of saud.

[Sloughfoot]

Amen!

[YourVeryWrong]

Perhaps these should be called The Clone Wars, because it seems that most of you share a common brain stem.

[YourVeryWrong]

No, skippy. That's not what you're selling at all. But mobsters like to think they're viligantes. It gives their lives meaning.

[hermitdave]

So just how are we going to keep this phony Muslim terror war going? It is obvious that the humans involved with this stupid waste of human life and treasure are no smarter than they were back during the early crusades in history. Let us all look at where we are now and how we got there.
1---Even if the men accused by the U.S. government of 9/11/01 were Muslim, does that justify a war with the nations of Islam?
2---At the time the Cheney-Rummy government attacked the country of Afghanistan, was there any actual Islamic country poised to attack the United States?
3---How many Islamic countries have the equal army navy air force and atomic firepower to wage an all out war with the western super powers?
4---When Cheney and Rummy lost interest in Afghanistan and moved to Iraq, was the country of Iraq capable of waging an all out war against the world?
4---With billions of Muslim people in the world, is it wise to continue a silly stupid phony war on terror, based on the LIE that Christians and Jews must fight and kill Muslims?
5---Why not admit that everything pertaining to the war on terror is a pack of lies, cut off funding, explain to the MERCHANTS OF GREED that the party is over, allow civilized humans to live in peace.

Feel free to add to the list--

[stn_sage]

Yes, hermitdave you are correct! There is a PLETHORA of evidence that shows 911 was probably an 'insider, false flag' event by elements of the U.S. govt assisted by elements of at least one 'friendly' govt!

In fact, the evidence was SO compelling the 911 Commission REFUSED to even look at it for fear of having to explain it...too difficult...if not impossible!

But, the fact is...there will probably always be people who will DENY everything you say! Some, because they're 'party loyalists', some because they're 'intellectually dis-interested', some who are naive, and others who are plain ignorant!

So, you will just have to be content in knowing that you...and millions of other people...who are also capable of intelligent thought...are correct on your views on this and related matters!

You'll NEVER convince people who are incapable of seeing the truth...don't worry about them...and don't let them bring YOU down!

Keep moving forward!

[YourVeryWrong]

Yes, they're all against you because they know that you are the last of the Titans. By which I mean the New York football team of the AFL.

Which would make you, what? Maybe 75 years old? Good luck, grandpa.

[YourVeryWrong]

The guy who keeps posting his fell-off-the-truck merchandise makes more sense.

[SocietysNightmare]

HERMITDAVE .... ignore these morons who posted above me. LOOSE CHANGE 9/11 ladies! Take a look at this documentary. If you're still convinced that the government played no part in the events of 9/11, then you probably still believe in the Easter Bunny, Santa, and that Apollo Moon Landing was real. Translation: there is no help or hope for you.

[billpl-2009]

by stn_sage
"...evidence that shows 911 was probably an 'insider, false flag' event by elements of the U.S. govt assisted by elements of at least one 'friendly' govt!
In fact, the evidence was SO compelling the 911 Commission REFUSED to even look at it for fear of having to explain it...too difficult...if not impossible!..."

you know, it's been said "a genius can make sense out of non-sense"

not because it actually make sense

but because, there's plenty of people DUMB enough to believe it

[YourVeryWrong]

As far as the ladies are concerned, is their usual reaction just another covert-op, false-flag, double-secret-probation kind of deal also? Because it doesn't seem possible that they'd ALL behave this way unless they were coached.

[YourVeryWrong]

New and Improved evidence proves that most conspiracies regarding the WTC are dismissed with a simple application of Thorazine.

[kbbpll]

"For two decades... in violation of a series of American laws" - was this just looking the other way the whole time on the part of federal prosecutors, or complete incompetence? Has to be one or the other.

[mjlewis6]

What bothers me is that there is any commerce or trade at all with Iran considering the destruction of the US Embassy in Tehran in 1978
and the holding of US Citizens for 444 days....

Not only that, but even Halliburtion had a division doing business there while VP Cheney was in office...and despite the claims of independence of subsidiaries, mail for that subsidiary doing business in Iran...was still delivered through the main offices of Halliburtion in several locations overseas.

Talk about the Bush Administration pursuing all possible leads to clamp down...this is just another example of the US NOT beind consolidated in effort and effect towards resolution of issues with Iran...and for that matter regarding Al Qaeda and the Taliban and sponsor nations.