Three former leaders of an Islamic charity were convicted in Boston on Friday of lying to the U.S. government to obtain tax-exempt charitable status and of hiding behind their charitable front to support pro-jihad activities.
Care International described its mission as helping war orphans, widows and refugees in Muslim nations. But federal prosecutors said the organization was a front for the promotion of Muslim terrorists in armed conflicts around the world.
The three defendants, all Muslims, were charged with tax code violations and with conspiracy to defraud the U.S. government. The federal jury convicted all three on all counts, with the sole exception of an ancillary charge, of which the group’s former president was acquitted.
‘Today’s verdict is a milestone in our efforts against those who conceal their support for extremist causes behind the veil of humanitarianism. For years, these defendants ran an allegedly charitable organization as a front for the collection of donations that they converted for the purpose of supporting violent jihadists,’ said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth Wainstein, in a prepared statement. Mr. Wainstein was nominated by President Bush in 2006 to his post as leader of the Justice Department’s National Security Division.
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Here’s a link to the AP report that provides most of the source material for this entry.
