U.S. v. One 1997 E35 Ford Van
| Decision Date | 12 May 1999 |
| Docket Number | No. 98 C 3548.,98 C 3548. |
| Citation | 50 F.Supp.2d 789 |
| Parties | UNITED STATES of America, Plaintiff, v. ONE 1997 E35 FORD VAN, VIN 1FBJS31L3VHB70844, All Funds in First National Bank of Chicago Account No. 12310153, All Funds in Midland Federal Savings & Loan Account No. 001093002113, All Funds in First National Bank of Evergreen Park Account No. 1412446, All Funds in Standard Bank & Trust Account No. 5580349268, All Funds in Standard Bank & Trust Account No. 239328806, All Funds in Standard Bank & Trust Safe Deposit Box No. 207, All Funds in Standard Bank & Trust Safe Deposit Box No. 4019, All Funds in First National Bank of Chicago Account No. 8060700, All Funds in LaSalle Bank, F.S.B. Account No. 022034532, Real Property Known as 9229 South Thomas, Bridgeview, Illinois, Defendants. |
| Court | U.S. District Court — Northern District of Illinois |
William H. Theis, Shellow, Shellow & Glynn, Milwaukee, Wisconsin, for claimant Quranic Literacy Institute.
Matthew J. Piers, Jonathan A. Rothstein, Dana Sukenik, Gessler, Hughes & Socol, Ltd., Chicago, Illinois, for claimant Muhammad Salah.
John S. Graettinger, Chicago, Illinois, for claimants Maryan Azita Salah and her minor children.
Scott Lassar, United States Attorney; Joseph M. Ferguson, Assistant United States Attorney, Chicago, Illinois, for the United States Government.
The United States government filed this civil forfeiture action seeking to forfeit all funds contained in seven bank accounts and two safe deposit boxes on the theory that these funds were transferred to financial institutions within the United States from abroad with the intent to support the international terrorist activities of the HAMAS organization in violation of the Money Laundering Control Act of 1986, 18 U.S.C. § 1956. These activities allegedly include acts of extortion, kidnaping, and murder against the State of Israel and its citizens as part of HAMAS' alleged campaign to force Israel to cede physical and political control over the lands comprising Israel and the occupied territories of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The government also seeks to forfeit a residence and one Ford Van because they were allegedly purchased with the illicit funds. The government alleges that the property is forfeitable pursuant to 18 U.S.C. § 981(a)(1)(A) which authorizes it to forfeit any property "involved in a transaction or attempted transaction in violation of section 1956 or 1957 ... or any property traceable to such property."
Muhammad Salah, his wife Maryam Azita Salah (on behalf of herself and that of her children), and the Quranic Literacy Institute ("QLI") have each filed verified claims to the defendant property. Salah and his wife direct their claims to Standard Bank & Trust account nos. 5580349268 and 2393228806, and safe deposit box nos. 207 and 4019; First National Bank of Chicago account no. 8060700; LaSalle bank, F.S.B. account no. 022034532; and their residence at 9229 South Thomas, Bridgeview Illinois. The assets seized from QLI include the funds contained in First National Bank of Chicago account no. 12310153; Midland Federal Savings & Loan account no. 0010930021133; First National Bank of Evergreen Park account no. 1412446; and one 1997 E35 Ford Van, VIN No. 1FBJS31L3VHB70844. The claimants have each moved to dismiss the complaint pursuant to Fed.R.Civ.P. 12(b)(6).
For the following reasons, we find that the complaint alleges a reasonable basis for the government's belief that the funds are tainted because they were transferred in violation of Section 1956(a)(2). We also find that the complaint establishes a reasonable basis for the government's belief that the Ford Van and residence are forfeitable because they are traceable to funds that are forfeitable pursuant to Section 1956(a)(2) and Section 981. The motions are granted to the extent the complaint seeks to forfeit the Ford Van and residence based on a violation of Section 1957 because the complaint does not allege that the funds used to purchase these assets were derived from "specified unlawful activity." See United States v. Lovett, 964 F.2d 1029, 1041 (10th Cir.) (), cert. denied, 506 U.S. 857, 113 S.Ct. 169, 121 L.Ed.2d 117 (1992).
The government has set forth the events relevant to this litigation in its verified complaint and the accompanying affidavit of Robert Wright, a Special Agent of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"). Wright is assigned to the Chicago Division Counter-Terrorism Task Force and, in that capacity, has become familiar with the techniques international terrorist organizations use to launder money in and out of the United States in support of extortionate terrorist and paramilitary activities and operations in the United States and abroad. The Chicago Task Force has been conducting an investigation involving the transfer of money from Europe and the Middle East to a network of individuals and organizations in the United States, including Muhammad Salah, Maryam Azita Salah, and QLI. The allegations of facts allegedly uncovered by this investigation are set forth in the Wright Affidavit. We briefly summarize these allegations below.
First, an opening caveat. The events detailed in the Wright Affidavit are merely assertions of what the government believes the evidence at trial will establish. The Wright Affidavit, to be sure, contains serious allegations of criminal wrongdoing on the part of both HAMAS and Salah. We acknowledge and remind the reader that they are nothing more than allegations. The government has yet to produce any evidence in support of these allegations and Salah has steadfastly denied their truth. While the law requires this court to presume that these allegations are true and to view them in a light most favorable to the government for purposes of the instant motions, none of the statements set forth in this opinion should be construed as a factual finding of this court. With this in mind, we now turn to the allegations of the forfeiture complaint.
On January 25, 1993, Mohamad Salah ("Salah"), a naturalized American citizen and Chicago area resident, was arrested by the Israeli government while in Israel allegedly to promote the activities of the HAMAS organization. In January 1995, Salah pled guilty in an Israeli military court to being a member of HAMAS and to channeling funds to HAMAS, including funds transferred through one of the subject bank accounts that he held jointly with his wife, Maryam Azita Salah. Salah was sentenced to a term of five years imprisonment. On February 10, 1995, the United States Treasury Department's Office of Foreign Asset Control, having reason to believe that Salah acted on behalf of HAMAS, which President Clinton has designated in Executive Order 12947 as a terrorist organization threatening to disrupt the Middle East Peace Process, froze all known Salah bank accounts but on a monthly basis licensed Mrs. Salah to withdraw a living stipend. Also, on July 27, 1995, the Department added Salah to the list of Specially Designated Terrorists because of his alleged participation in terrorist activities in the Middle East.
The government claims that after his arrest Salah made a series of statements to Israeli authorities detailing his activities in the United States and abroad as a HAMAS military operative. These statements comprise a significant portion of the allegations set forth against Salah in the Wright Affidavit. Salah allegedly stated that his involvement with HAMAS began approximately in 1988. He divulged that he recruited and trained, domestically and abroad, new candidates for membership in HAMAS military cells that performed terrorist acts in Israel and the Occupied Territories. These recruiting activities allegedly included, among other things, conducting interviews and background checks and identifying and classifying prospective candidates on the basis of expertise and knowledge in chemicals, explosives, and the construction of terrorist devices that might be used in HAMAS military operations in Israel and elsewhere. Salah allegedly admitted that these training activities included mixing poisons, developing chemical weapons, and preparing remote control explosive devices. The government alleges that Salah also admitted acting as a financial conduit and directly financing domestic and international travel and terrorism training for new HAMAS members.
Further, Salah allegedly stated that he took extended trips within the United States and abroad on behalf of HAMAS. For example, in August and September 1992, Salah went on a sixteen day trip to Israel and the Occupied Territories. During this trip, Salah funneled approximately $100,000 to an alleged HAMAS operative, Salah Al-Arouri, which, according to both Salah and Al-Arouri, was used to purchase weapons. Al-Arouri allegedly admitted to Israeli officials that he gave an individual named Musa Dudin approximately $45,000 of the money he received from Salah so that Dudin could purchase weapons in September 1992. Al-Arouri further related that Dudin purchased the weapons as planned and that these weapons were subsequently used in terrorist attacks, including a suicide attack resulting in the murder of an Israeli soldier in Hebron in October 1992. The government alleges that at least half of the funds Salah gave to Al-Arouri originated from the Salahs' LaSalle Bank account no. 022034532.
The government also alleges that, in January 1993, at the request of Mousa Abu Marzook, the leader of HAMAS, Salah traveled to Israel on behalf of HAMAS. This trip allegedly was designed to help reorganize and restaff several military cells throughout Israel after a series of terrorist acts for which HAMAS claimed credit prompted the Israeli...
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