Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab Indicted for Attempted Bombing of Flight 253 on Christmas Day

/PRNewswire/ -- The Justice Department announced that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a 23-year-old Nigerian national, was charged today in a six-count criminal indictment returned in the Eastern District of Michigan for his alleged role in the attempted Christmas day bombing of Northwest Airlines flight 253 from Amsterdam, the Netherlands, to Detroit.

Count one of the indictment charges Abdulmutallab with attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction, which carries a penalty of up to life in prison. Count two of the indictment charges him with attempted murder within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Count three of the indictment charges him with willful attempt to destroy or wreck an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, which carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Count four of the indictment charges Abdulmutallab with willfully placing a destructive device on an aircraft within the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States, which was likely to endanger the safety of such aircraft. This violation carries a penalty of up to 20 years in prison. Count five of the indictment charges him with use of a firearm/destructive device during and in relation to a crime of violence, which carries a consecutive mandatory 30 years in prison. Count six of the indictment charges the defendant with possession of a firearm/destructive device in furtherance of a crime of violence, which carries a consecutive mandatory 30 years in prison

"The charges that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab faces could imprison him for life," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "This investigation is fast-paced, global and ongoing, and it has already yielded valuable intelligence that we will follow wherever it leads. Anyone we find responsible for this alleged attack will be brought to justice using every tool -- military or judicial -- available to our government."

"The attempted murder of 289 innocent people merits the most serious charges available, and that's what we have charged in this indictment," said U.S. Attorney Barbara L. McQuade, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan.

According to the indictment, Northwest Airlines flight 253 carried 279 passengers and 11 crewmembers. Abdulmutallab allegedly boarded Northwest Airlines flight 253 in Amsterdam on Dec. 25, 2009 carrying a concealed bomb. The bomb components included Pentaerythritol (also known as PETN, a high explosive), as well as Triacetone Triperoxide (also known as TATP, a high explosive), and other ingredients.

The bomb was concealed in the defendant's clothing and was designed to allow him to detonate it at a time of his choosing, thereby causing an explosion aboard flight 253, according to the indictment. Shortly prior to landing at Detroit Metropolitan Airport, Abdulmutallab detonated the bomb, causing a fire on board flight 253.

According to an affidavit filed in support of a criminal complaint, Abdulmutallab was subdued and restrained by the passengers and flight crew after detonating the bomb. The airplane landed shortly thereafter, and he was taken into custody by U.S. Customs and Border Protection officers. Abdulmutallab required medical treatment, and was transported to the University of Michigan Medical Center after the plane landed.

This prosecution is being handled by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Michigan, with assistance from the Counterterrorism Section of the Justice Department's National Security Division.

The investigation is being conducted by the Detroit Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is led by the FBI and includes U.S. Customs and Border Protection, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Federal Air Marshal Service, and other law enforcement agencies. Additional assistance has been provided by the Transportation Security Administration, the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, the Wayne County Airport police, as well as international law enforcement partners.

The public is reminded that an indictment contains mere allegations and a defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

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Justice Department Seeks Removal of Detroit-Area Man Who Shot Jews While Serving as Nazi Policeman

/PRNewswire/ -- The Department of Justice has initiated removal proceedings against a Troy, Mich., resident based on his participation in violent acts of persecution while serving as an armed member of the Nazi-sponsored Ukrainian Auxiliary Police (UAP) in occupied L'viv, Ukraine, during World War II, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division announced today.

The charging document, filed Aug. 27, 2009, in U.S. Immigration Court in Detroit, alleges that John (originally Iwan) Kalymon served as a member of the UAP from at least May 1942 to March 1944; that he personally shot Jews while serving, killing at least one; and that he participated in violent anti-Jewish operations in which Jews were forcibly deported to be murdered in gas chambers and to serve as slave laborers.

"These charges once again demonstrate the resolve of the Department of Justice to deny safe haven in this country to human rights violators, no matter how long ago they committed their heinous acts," said Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer. "The ultimate removal of John Kalymon will close a very painful chapter and provide a measure of justice to his victims and their families."

As the government established in prior federal court litigation that resulted in a court order revoking Kalymon's naturalized U.S. citizenship, during the German occupation of L'viv, which had been part of Poland before the war, Nazi German forces assisted by the UAP confined more than 100,000 Jews to a ghetto in the city and carried out periodic operations to reduce the ghetto's population. In these violent operations, German forces and the UAP rounded up Jews, beating and shooting those who showed any sign of resistance, and sent most of them to be murdered in the gas chambers at the Belzec extermination center. Some were shot or selected to be worked to death in forced labor camps.

Kalymon, 88, admitted in court proceedings that he fled with retreating German forces in 1944. He immigrated to the United States from Germany in May 1949, concealing his UAP service from U.S. immigration officials and obtained U.S. citizenship in Detroit in October 1955. A federal judge in Detroit revoked his citizenship in March 2007, concluding that Kalymon assisted in the wartime persecution of Jews by, "taking part in sweeps of the ghetto during periodic reduction actions; manning cordon posts around the city to prevent Jews from escaping before and during such actions; and hunting for Jews who attempted to hide or flee." The court noted that World War II-era documents, including a handwritten Aug. 14, 1942, report prepared by Kalymon in which he accounted to his UAP superiors for ammunition he had expended that day in shooting Jews, proved that Kalymon personally killed at least one Jew and wounded at least one other. The actions were part of the so-called "Great Operation," which resulted in the removal of 40,000 Jews from the L'viv Ghetto in August 1942.

"With the active assistance of collaborators like John Kalymon, the Nazis annihilated some 100,000 innocent Jewish men, women and children in L'viv," noted Eli M. Rosenbaum, Director of the Criminal Division's Office of Special Operations (OSI). "Participants in such crimes have forfeited any right to enjoy the precious privilege of U.S. citizenship or to continue residing in the United States."

The proceedings to denaturalize Kalymon were initiated in 2004 by OSI and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Detroit. The case is a result of OSI's ongoing efforts to identify, investigate and take legal action against former participants in Nazi crimes of persecution who reside in the United States. Since OSI began operations in 1979, it has won cases against 107 individuals who participated in Nazi-sponsored persecution. In addition, more than 180 suspected participants in Nazi crimes who sought to enter the United States in recent years have been blocked from doing so as a result of OSI's "Watchlist" program, which is enforced in cooperation with the Departments of State and Homeland Security.

The removal case against Kalymon is being litigated by OSI Senior Trial Attorney William H. Kenety. The Detroit office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement has provided assistance. Members of the public are reminded that the charging document contains only allegations and that the government will be required to prove its case before an immigration judge.

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Ahmed Ghailani Transferred From Guantanamo Bay to New York for Prosecution on Terror Charges

/PRNewswire / -- The Justice Department today announced that Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani, a Tanzanian national who had been held at the Guantanamo Bay detention facility since September 2006, arrived early this morning in the Southern District of New York to face criminal charges stemming from his alleged role in the Aug. 7, 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassies in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania and Nairobi, Kenya.

After a thorough review of his case by the interagency Guantanamo Review Task Force, Ghailani was recently referred for criminal prosecution in the Southern District of New York pursuant to a March 12, 2001 superseding indictment against him.

Ghailani was transferred from the custody of the Department of Defense to the Southern District of New York by the U.S. Marshals Service. He is currently in custody at the Metropolitan Correctional Center, which has housed numerous terror suspects over the years during their prosecutions in the Southern District of New York. Ghailani is expected to make his initial appearance in Manhattan federal court later today.

Ghailani faces 286 separate counts in the March 2001 superseding indictment. Among other violations, the superseding indictment charges him with conspiring with Usama bin Laden and other members of al-Qaeda to kill Americans anywhere in the world, as well as separate charges of murder for the deaths of each of the 224 people killed in the U.S. Embassy bombings in Tanzania and Kenya and various other offenses related to the bombings.

"With his appearance in federal court today, Ahmed Ghailani is being held accountable for his alleged role in the bombing of U.S. Embassies in Tanzania and Kenya and the murder of 224 people," said Attorney General Eric Holder. "The Justice Department has a long history of securely detaining and successfully prosecuting terror suspects through the criminal justice system, and we will bring that experience to bear in seeking justice in this case."

The chart below details the charges against Ghailani and the statutory maximum penalties. The public is reminded that the charges and allegations contained in the superseding indictment are merely accusations, and the defendant is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.

Count(s) Description of Charge Maximum Penalties
Counts 1 - 6: Conspiracies to Murder, Bomb, and Maim

1 Conspiracy to Kill U.S. Nationals
Life
2 Conspiracy to Murder, Kidnap, and Maim At Places Outside the
United States
Life
3 Conspiracy to Murder
Life
4 Conspiracy to Use Weapons of Mass Destruction Against U.S.
Nationals
Death or life
5 Conspiracy to Destroy Buildings and Property of the United States
Life (mandatory minimum of 20 years)
6 Conspiracy to Attack National Defense Utilities
10 years

Counts 7 - 286: The Africa Bombings

7 Bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya
Death or life (mandatory minimum of 20 years)
8 Bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Death or life (mandatory minimum of 20 years)
9 Use and Attempted Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction Against U.S.
Nationals in Nairobi, Kenya
Death or life
10 Use and Attempted Use of Weapons of Mass Destruction Against U.S.
Nationals in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Death or life
11-223 Murders in Nairobi, Kenya
Death or mandatory life
224-234 Murders in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Death or mandatory life
235-275 Murder of U.S. Employees in Nairobi, Kenya
Death or mandatory life
276 Attempted Murder of U.S. Employees in Nairobi, Kenya
20 years
277-278 Murder of U.S. Employees in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Death or mandatory life
279 Attempted Murder of U.S. Employees in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
20 years
280-281 Murder of Internationally Protected Persons in Nairobi, Kenya
Death or mandatory life
282 Attempted Murder of Internationally Protected Persons in Nairobi,
Kenya
20 years
283 Attempted Murder of Internationally Protected Persons in Dar es
Salaam, Tanzania
20 years
284 Using and Carrying An Explosive During the Commission of A Felony
10 years consecutive
285 Using and Carrying A Dangerous Device During the Bombing Of the
U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya
30 years consecutive
286 Using and Carrying A Dangerous Device During the Bombing Of the
U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
Life or 30 years consecutive

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Iranian Man and His Company Charged in International Scheme to Supply Iran With Sensitive U.S. Technology

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- An Iranian citizen and his Tehran business have been charged with purchasing helicopter engines and advanced aerial cameras for fighter bombers from U.S. firms and illegally exporting them to Iran using companies in Malaysia, Ireland and the Netherlands. Among the alleged recipients of these U.S. goods was an Iranian military firm that has since been designated by the United States for being owned or controlled by entities involved in Iran's nuclear and ballistic missile program.

The charges against Hossein Ali Khoshnevisrad, 55, and his Iranian company, Ariasa, AG (Ariasa), were announced today by Matthew G. Olsen, Acting Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Jeffrey A. Taylor, U.S. Attorney for the District of Columbia; Kevin A. Delli-Colli, Acting Assistant Secretary for Export Enforcement, U.S. Department of Commerce; Joseph Persichini, Jr., Assistant Director in Charge, FBI Washington Field Office; Mark X. McGraw, Special Agent in Charge, Washington Field Office, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Department of Homeland Security; and Special Agent in Charge Edward Bradley of the Defense Criminal Investigative Service Northeast Field Office.

Khoshnevisrad was arrested on Saturday, March 14, after he arrived at San Francisco International Airport on a flight from abroad. He made his initial appearance earlier today in federal court in San Francisco.

A criminal complaint filed under seal in federal court in the District of Columbia in August 2008 and unsealed today, charges the defendants each with two counts of unlawfully exporting U.S. goods to Iran and two counts of conspiracy to unlawfully export U.S. goods to Iran in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act and the Iranian Transactions Regulations. If convicted, Khoshnevisrad faces a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison on each of the first three counts of the complaint and a maximum sentence of five years in prison on the fourth count of the complaint.

According to the affidavit in support of the complaint, from January 2007 through December 2007, Khoshnevisrad and Ariasa caused and instructed a trading company in Ireland to purchase several model 250 turbo-shaft helicopter engines from Rolls-Royce Corp. in Indiana. The model 250 engine was originally designed for a U.S. Army light observation helicopter and has since been installed in numerous civil and military helicopters. In 2007, the Irish trading company purchased 17 of the model 250 helicopter engines from Rolls-Royce for $4.27 million, falsely stating that the helicopters would be used by the Irish trading company or by fake companies.

The affidavit alleges that these helicopter engines were then exported from the United States to a purported "book publisher" in Malaysia, at a Malaysian freight forwarding company address, and later shipped on to Iran. Among the recipients in Iran was the Iran Aircraft Manufacturing Industrial Company, known by its Iranian acronym as HESA.

On Sept. 17, 2008, the Treasury Department designated several Iranian weapons of mass destruction proliferators and members of their support networks pursuant to Executive Order 13382. Among the entities designated was HESA, which the Treasury Department determined was controlled by Iran's Ministry of Defense and Armed Forces Logistics and has provided support to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps.

In addition to the alleged illegal export of helicopter engines, the affidavit alleges that Khoshnevisrad and Ariasa also caused to be exported to Iran several aerial panorama cameras from the United States. These specific cameras were designed for the U.S. Air Force for use on bombers, fighters and surveillance aircraft, including the F-4E Phantom fighter bomber, which is currently used by the Iranian military.

According to the affidavit, in 2006, Khoshnevisrad instructed a Dutch aviation parts company to place an order for these cameras with a U.S. company located in Pennsylvania and to ship them to an address in Iran.

According to the affidavit, the Dutch company ordered the aerial panorama cameras from the Pennsylvania firm, falsely stating that the Netherlands would be the final destination for the cameras. In an email to the Dutch company, Khoshnevisrad provided the following instructions: "Regarding the end user as you know USA will not deliver to Iran in any case. You should give them an end user by yourself."

In August 2006, a representative of the Dutch company notified Khoshnevisrad that he had received the cameras from the United States and that the cameras would soon be shipped to Tehran aboard an Iran Air flight, according to the affidavit.

Despite these alleged transactions, neither Khoshnevisrad nor Ariasa has ever sought, obtained or possessed any authorization or license from the U.S. Department of Treasury to export any goods or technology to Iran, according to the affidavit.

This investigation was conducted by special agents from the Department of Commerce's Bureau of Industry Security, Office of Export Enforcement; the Federal Bureau of Investigation; the Department of Homeland Security's U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement; and the Defense Criminal Investigative Service. U.S. Customs and Border Protection provided assistance in the arrest.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Denise Cheung and Ann Petalas of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Columbia, and Trial Attorneys Johnathan Poling and Ryan Fayhee of the Counterespionage Section of the Justice Department's National Security Division. Local coordination is being provided by Assistant U.S. Attorney Candace Kelly of the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of California.

The details contained in a criminal complaint are mere allegations. All defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

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