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Home Front: WoT
U. Memphis Student Arrested: airline pilot impersonation materials found
2005-09-16
When FBI agents walked into Mahmoud Maawad's spartan apartment at 3557 Mynders # 5 on Sept. 9, they found a desk, chair, computer and a Koran. They also found an airline pilot's uniform, a chart of Memphis International Airport, and instructional DVDs, including one called "How an Airline Captain Should Look and Act."

A federal magistrate Thursday ordered Maawad, a 29-year-old University of Memphis student from Egypt, jailed until his trial on charges of wire fraud and fraudulent use of a Social Security number. "The specific facts and circumstances are scary," Asst. U.S. Atty. Steve Parker said, arguing against Maawad's release. Since Maawad can't get a Social Security number, "he can't get a pilot's license, and can't go to flight school," Parker said. "But he wants to get behind the wheel of an aircraft." Parker said "we don't know either way" if Maawad is a terrorist or connected to any terror groups. U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Thomas Anderson ruled that Maawad be held without bond.

Though it's not illegal to buy aviation material, Anderson noted, "it is hard for the court to understand why he has a large concentration of those items, and nothing else to indicate Mr. Maawad plans to stay in the community." Maawad has been in the country illegally since 1999, and has used a false Social Security number to enroll in schools and open a bank account, Parker said. He's been working off-the-books for cash at a North Memphis convenience store, and was arrested by Shelby County sheriff's deputies last spring for selling alcohol to a minor.

Agents are downloading information from Maawad's computer and analyzing materials from his apartment in search of a terrorism connection. "My school is everything," said Maawad, a clean-shaven man built like a weightlifter. "I stay in this country for seven years; I stay for the school." Maawad said he's studying science and economics at the U of M. Since Maawad can't work legally, he told authorities a friend would support him. When court employees tried to reach that friend, the telephone was disconnected.

Between April and August, the penniless student ordered $3,000 in aviation materials, DVDs titled "Ups and Downs of Takeoffs and Landings," "Airplane Talk," "Mental Math for Pilots" and "Mastering GPS Flying," FBI agent Thad Gulczynski testified. He also ordered a pilot's coat and hat, and a chart of the Memphis airport terminal area from Spotty's USA in San Diego. When the company didn't receive payment on $2,500 worth of merchandise it had delivered, officials called the FBI, which launched an investigation, Gulczynski said.
good decision, Scotty folks.
Posted by:lotp

#25  Send his a** right back to Egypt, post haste!!
Posted by: smn   2005-09-16 23:17  

#24  Hmm, I'm all for giving the jihadists a bullet (BTW, if you haven't seen "Inside 9/11" from National Geographic, Bittorrent it ASAP), but this story doesn't do it for me.

A lot of hints, portents, yada yada. But I need more than to be scared of shadows. Four years on, without any corraborating material, this smells of a wannabee.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia   2005-09-16 22:27  

#23  You guys have got to check this crap out. I found Muhamhead's (piece of pork be upon him) e-mail login (pilot747) on this flight simulator site in Germany. Now let me think, how many rock ape 9-11 muslime terrorist were stationed in that country....

http://212.227.203.16/fb/member.php?u=385
Posted by: Piggy God Allah   2005-09-16 22:23  

#22  Good job, G-Men. But you dropped the ball a few years ago with the Katherine Smith case. Remember that one? Smith was a employee at a Memphis DMV station where she was nabbed selling fake-name licenses to 4 ragheads from NYC. One of those rags worked in the WTC building before the attacks but the feds eventually let all of them go free. Unfortunately for Mrs Smith, late one night in MS as she was driving towards Memphis, her car exploded and hit a telephone pole. Her body was badly burned and her murderer never caught. I've always gotten the feeling that the feds never wanted to solve that crime, especially since it tied in with the WTC. Sounds like the FBI's 'Vitalis Boy' Mueller quashed yet another crime that might have had political blowback.
Posted by: Hupirt Thasing9304   2005-09-16 22:09  

#21  Maawad has been in the country illegally since 1999, and has used a false Social Security number to enroll in schools and open a bank account, Parker said.
now tell me again why he isn't being deported or put in jail for using a false SS#. And shouldn't he be made to show how he gets his money, get another number if that one has been disconnected.
Posted by: Jan   2005-09-16 21:47  

#20  Frank Abagnale, Jr. Turned his story into Catch Me If You Can.
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2005-09-16 20:10  

#19  Whats his name Abignall who scammed Pan Am for years as an "Copilot"
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2005-09-16 18:25  

#18  Northwest also has a hub at Memphis. Don't forget that.
Posted by: Desert Blondie   2005-09-16 17:39  

#17  TZ,

Yep, that's the nut, Galloway. Dumbass he was, real dumbass.

Everyone knows a speargun is too bulky for close quarters.

EP
Posted by: ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding   2005-09-16 17:36  

#16  Auburn Calloway?


http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/history_of_flight/79391%22
Posted by: TZsenator   2005-09-16 17:27  

#15  "I may smell like camel dung, but I really am a pilot. Honest!"

See? I have been ordering all kinds of study materials!
Posted by: BigEd   2005-09-16 17:19  

#14  Fed Ex Hub is not quite aligned with the airport like that.It is a possibility

,but there are enough "interns" from the U of M that are Syrians, Palestenians, etc.. who already work at Fed Ex, I'm sorry, intern at FedEx to pull that off any day of the week if that were the intent.

Fedex has been long prepared for such an attack. Mainly because in the 90's sometime a looney tunes employee armed himself with a spear gun and an axe and went after two pilots in the cockpit as he attempted to steal their plane.

Evidently FedEx boys don't play that shit. They gave him a round ass whipping and he now resides in a local mental facility.

Whatever the case Mahmood is fucked now. Welcome to 201 Poplar Mahmood. Don't mind the other inmates, they just want to anally rape you, they don't get many foreign types here.Kinda exotic for em.

EP
Posted by: ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding   2005-09-16 17:03  

#13  #10 Mahmoud Maawad?
I'm shocked!

There must be some mistake. Are they sure his name isn't Sven Svenson? Or maybe Eric Bjork?
Posted by Barbara Skolaut 2005-09-16 14:41

Babara, I'm in total agreement with you! This is outrageous! Racial-ethnic profiling! I'm calling the ACLU pronto to help put a stop to this!

See ACLU-Al-Qaeda Coffee mugs and Ayman ZZZZZZ poster on this topic:

http://www.thepeoplescube.com/red/viewtopic.php?t=33
Posted by: The Angry Fliegerabwehrkanonen   2005-09-16 16:55  

#12  Memphis is Fedex's main hub, prehaps someone was trying to bypass the normal passenger aircraft route and obtain access to a freighter.
Posted by: TZsenator   2005-09-16 16:52  

#11  Working illegally is actually a pretty typical foreign student experience

Purchasing an airline captain's uniform and DVDs that will teach you how to pass as a pilot is .... not.
Posted by: lotp   2005-09-16 15:00  

#10  Mahmoud Maawad?

I'm shocked!

There must be some mistake. Are they sure his name isn't Sven Svenson? Or maybe Eric Bjork?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut   2005-09-16 14:41  

#9  If killing innocent muslims for the stars of the jihadi universe is OK then why would selling poison to infidels even register as a concern. Scum. Mayber nutter would-be-terrorist scum or just plain DIY jihadi scum. Scum all the same.
Posted by: MunkarKat   2005-09-16 13:54  

#8  Beats me how an "Islamist" would be selling alcohol in the first place. If he was so religious he wouldnt be doing that, ask any Muslim.

In the furtherance of jihad, all is forgiven.
Posted by: Robert Crawford   2005-09-16 13:40  

#7  Beats me how an "Islamist" would be selling alcohol in the first place. If he was so religious he wouldnt be doing that, ask any Muslim.
Posted by: Cromock Angaviger8741   2005-09-16 13:33  

#6  "When the company didn't receive payment on $2,500 worth of merchandise it had delivered, officials called the FBI, which launched an investigation, Gulczynski said"


WTF ???????? you mean that if he had paid he wouldnt have been reported. The name Mahoud Mawaad didnt throw a big RED FLAG up alone. Were is peoples common sence.
Posted by: C-Low   2005-09-16 13:32  

#5  And Memphis, just like every other city in the country has it's fair share of Hajjeh marts to lend such support to "students" like this dude.

How many times did I walk into stores in the ghettos off of Elvis Preseley Blvd and be welcomed in by Al Jazeera blaring news out in Arabic at full volume while Mahmoud and his like restocked the Colt 45. They some malt liquor pickers!

EP

Posted by: ElvisHasLeftTheBuilding   2005-09-16 13:16  

#4  No offense ZF, but, fraudster scum by any other name.
Posted by: MunkarKat   2005-09-16 13:07  

#3  Article: Maawad has been in the country illegally since 1999, and has used a false Social Security number to enroll in schools and open a bank account, Parker said. He's been working off-the-books for cash at a North Memphis convenience store, and was arrested by Shelby County sheriff's deputies last spring for selling alcohol to a minor.

Working illegally is actually a pretty typical foreign student experience. I used to hang out with some cute foreign students from the Far East who were bright but not from rich families. What they used to do was get a rich family friend or relative to sponsor them for a student visa and an affidavit of support (non-enforceable in the home country, of course), with the understanding that they would find jobs to put themselves through school. Since student visa holders aren't typically allowed to work, they typically had to do off-the-books work or use a fake social security number.
Posted by: Zhang Fei   2005-09-16 12:43  

#2  Hmmmmm nothing to see here.


Wring him dry
Posted by: Frank G   2005-09-16 10:47  

#1  The nice little man just always wanted to be a pilot? As to the fraud and associated behavior the police were just being culturally insensitive in arresting him. Perpetual student and fraud since 1999. Scum.
Posted by: MunkarKat   2005-09-16 09:18  

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