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Home Front: WoT

Mich. Prosecutor Dropping Terror Case

2006-08-17

BAY CITY, Mich. (AP) - Three Palestinian-American men who were found with nearly 1,000 cell phones were charged Wednesday with federal fraud conspiracy and money laundering after a county prosecutor backed off from terrorism charges filed earlier.

Maruan Muhareb, 18; Adham Othman, 21; and Louai Othman, 23, all of the Dallas area, were charged in Bay City with conspiracy to defraud consumers and telephone providers by trafficking in counterfeit goods. They also were charged with money laundering on suspicion that they used proceeds from the counterfeit cell phone transactions to buy more phones.

Magistrate Judge Charles Binder ordered the men held at least until a detention hearing Friday. They were arrested last Friday after buying dozens of cell phones at a Wal-Mart store in nearby Tuscola County.

The three in Michigan had been charged there with collecting or providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable target for terrorist purposes. Prosecutor Mark E. Reene asked a judge Wednesday to dismiss those charges.

Nabih Ayad, an attorney for the three men, called the charges ``outrageous'' and accused state and federal officials of ``scratching each other's backs'' by shifting jurisdictions. ``This is a clear indication of racial profiling: Picking someone up and holding them for days and trying to find something to charge them with. It's supposed to be the other way around,'' he said.

Just sucks for your clients when the feds and the state coordinate the charges like that.

The federal complaint contains no mention of terrorism. It alleges that the three men defrauded consumers, TracFone Wireless Inc. and Nokia Corp. Florida-based TracFone sells prepaid cell phones with a limited number of minutes at subsidized prices. It makes money when buyers purchase additional minutes.

The government alleges the men are part of a scheme to buy up phones that Nokia makes for TracFone and then remove TracFone's proprietary software, enabling use of the handsets with any cellular provider. When the phones are altered, they are no longer genuine Nokia products.

All the information in the federal complaint came from the defendants' statements to the FBI in interviews before they were charged in Tuscola County, Ayad said.

Supporters of the Texas men say they were targeted because of their ethnicity. They say that the three were hoping to resell phones for a profit and that their purchases had nothing to do with terrorism.

Which puts them in the position of admitting to the crime of defrauding the cell phone company, right?

Photos the men took of the 5-mile-long Mackinac Bridge, which led to the surveillance charge, were tourist snapshots, advocates contend.

"We're just simple ~~elk hunters~~ tourists!"

The conspiracy charge is punishable by five years in prison. The men could face 20 years in prison if convicted of money laundering.

Al Capone was convicted on tax evasion. Didn't matter in the end. Enjoy your stay in stir, boys.

Posted by:Steve White

#13 Why not restrict the purchase of cell phones, by non-dealers, to one each per piece of verifiable identification presented? Who needs 1,000 cell phones? Want more? Jump through all of the hoops to become a registered (and monitored) dealer.

Posted by: Zenster 2006-08-17 18:41

#12 Giving away pre-paid phone cards is a legal technique used by skip-tracers to acquire base information on people

Gonna remember that one.

Posted by: 6 2006-08-17 17:36

#11 With regard to plug configuration, that's easily solved with a simple plug adapter available for purchase at all international airports, suitcase shops, Radio Shack stores in the nearby Mall, etc. And likely made up in job lots in Peshawar as needed.

Posted by: trailing wife 2006-08-17 14:00

#10 Manolo, you are correct with respect to the charger itself, but the cord, if attached to the charger, likely does not have the correct plug configuration. If that portion of the cable is removeable from the charger then I see your point.

Posted by: remoteman 2006-08-17 13:47

#9 The media does belong to the purchaser. The information on it does not.

Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2006-08-17 12:53

#8 "Once I buy something, it belongs to me, not the company."

Obviously you have never read the End User Service Agreement associated with any of the Software applications you've purchased.

-M

Posted by: Manolo 2006-08-17 12:49

#7 Once I buy something, it belongs to me, not the company.

Depends on the terms under which you bought it.

Posted by: lotp 2006-08-17 12:39

#6 "Because phones were to be sent where electrical outlets are 240 volts."

So? Very few if any electrical devices, including phone chargers are designed to work on just 110V, it is an almost universal practice that they support 110/220V. Look at one sometime.

-M

Posted by: Manolo 2006-08-17 12:28

#5 I have an alternate theory to the detonator angle. Maybe they are part of an identity theft ring. The original owners or purchasers can legally request the billing records. (Which include call records) Giving away pre-paid phone cards is a legal technique used by skip-tracers to acquire base information on people whom they suspect have connections to others that have defaulted on loans. Some, no doubt, use this completely legal technique for more nefarious reasons.

Posted by: DepotGuy 2006-08-17 10:58

#4 No doubt these guys are just a part of a larger operation. Letting them walk is just another case of PC stupidity.

Posted by: wxjames 2006-08-17 09:55

#3 Because phones were to be sent where electrical outlets are 240 volts.

Posted by: ed 2006-08-17 08:53

#2 What I found peculiar, is they when they were caught, they were separating the phones in one box and the chargers into another. Who would buy a phone without the ability to recharge the battery?

I supposed it would only be neccessary to charge the phone long enough for its purpose (??Detonator).

See "Bojinka" airline plot.

Posted by: Delphi2005 2006-08-17 08:41

#1 Which puts them in the position of admitting to the crime of defrauding the cell phone company, right?

Wrong, Defrauding them just how?
Once I buy something, it belongs to me, not the company.
"Hoping the buyers will buy additional minutes" is a risk taken by the phone company, not a "Fraud"
If any fraud has taken place, it's the phone company putting in software that prevents you from using any other carrier, removing that software BY THE OWNER is not fraud.

Think of buying a Chevy, and finding that the Chevy will only take a special gasoline nozzle that requires you to buy Chevrolet Gasoline.
A refular gas pump nozzle (All other pumps) will not fit.

That Nozzle would be on the car about one minuite after I found this out. It's called "Restraint of Trade"

Posted by: Redneck Jim 2006-08-17 06:27

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