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het Investigation of Criminal Enterprises Supporting Hizoaliah As discussed above, a critical part of our counterterrorism strategy 's the use of traditional criminal investigation and prosecution to disrupt terrorst activity. A good example is the recent joint investigation targeting criminal enterprises that raise money to support Hizballah, a foreign terrorist organization To support Hizballah, these crirninal enterprises, primarily based in the Detroit area, are engaged in a wide range of offenses, including credit card y fraud, bank fraud, mail fraud, mortgage fraud, wire fraud, bankruptcy fraud, money laundering, contraband cigarette trafficking, trafficking in counterfeit cigarette tax stamps, transportation of stolen property, and trafficking in counterfeit goods deans Penal ss Ln cis, peace a Ph boy 4 ha ty ea A team made up of investigators from several FBI JTTFs, Legal Attachés, and our partner agencies has used an. integrated strategy of intelligence collection and criminal investigative techniques to identify, disrupt, and defeat Hizballah support networks. To date, that strategy has produced 18 complaints, 37 indictments, 19 arrests, and 10 convictions. Here are two recent developments in that investigation. * In January 2004, Elias Mohamad Akhdar of Dearborn, Michigan, was sentenced to 70 months in prison after pleading guilty to violations of the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (R/CO) for his role in running a multi-million dollar enterprise involved in the smuggling of untaxed and low-taxed cigarettes between Michigan, North Carolina, and the Cattarangus Indian Reservation in New York, The Akhdar enterprise, which resulted in the evasion of approximately $2 million in Michigan state cigarette taxes, had two. connections to Hizbailah. First, one of the largest suppliers of contraband cigarettes to the racketeering conspiracy was Mohamad Hammoud of the Charlotte, North Carolina, Hizballah Cell, who was convicted of providing material support to Hizballah. Aliso, Hassan Moussa Makki, a key player in this enterprise, — - pled. guilty in September 2003 to providing material support to Hizballah. In January 2004, Mahmoud Youssef Kourani, formerly of Dearborn, Michigan was indicted for Conspiracy to Provide Material Support to Hizballah. Kourani is charged with conspiring with his brother, the Hizballah Chief of Military Security for Squthern Lebanon, and other unnamed co-conspirators to provide. material support to Hizballah. Kourani is.an alleged member, fighter, recruiter, and fundraiser for Hizballah. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 15 years’ imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Respect for Civil Liberties It is the FBI's job to protect Americans, not only from crime and terrorism, but also from incursions into their constitutional nights. That effort starts with our own commitment to scrupulously protect privacy rights and civil liberties in the course of our investigations. With the tragedy of September 11, 2001, and. the ensuing imperative to protect America against further attack, some questioned whether the Bureau would forsake civil liberties and personal privacy rights for the Sake of investigative expediency Thanks to the professionalism of our personnel and the respect for civil liberties institutionalized within the Bureau, our operations of the past 31 months have been carned out with full adherence to the Constitution and the principles of personal liberty and privacy MISC DOC. #5 70 000000409 ERT Le conte mt eof “st