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Hundreds sign petition protesting
Money-Transfer case against Kurds
12.5.2006
By David Reynolds
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Speaking Out For Their ‘Neighbors’
Hundreds of residents have signed a petition asking
U.S. Attorney John Brownlee to drop charges against
four Kurdish men indicted in connection with an
unlicensed money transferring business.
The petition, with more than 600 signatures, ran as
a paid advertisement in Thursday’s Daily
News-Record. "Standing With Our Neighbors," a group
formed in support of the defendants, bought the ad.
The petition says the four defendants were helping
friends and relatives, and didn’t know sending money
to relatives in northern Iraq could land them in
court.
Still, Ahmed Haji Abdullah, Fadhil Noroly, Rasheed
Qadir Qambari and Amir Rashid could face prison,
fines or deportation when the case in the U.S.
District Court for the Western District of Virginia
is resolved. All of the defendants are from
Harrisonburg.
Since being indicted in October, three of the men
have been convicted — two by plea agreements and one
by a jury. Rashid, Abdullah and Qambari will be
sentenced June 26. Charges against Noroly are still
pending, and he returns to court July 11.
But petitioners say all four should be exonerated,
not punished.
"Their crime lies only in having not realized that
they needed to be licensed to transfer money to
overseas banks," the petition reads. "We ask our
government to stop the proceedings, withdraw the
charges, expunge the conviction and apologize for
their actions against our neighbors."
A spokesman for Brownlee declined to comment. |
Photo: Rasheed Qambari shows off photos of family
members in Kurdistan-Iraq to whom he sent money.
Qambari could fact prison time for running an
unlicensed money transfer business.
Photo:DNR |
The Charge
Prosecutors allege that from 1998 to 2004, the men
sent $3 million overseas without a license.
In a written statement, Brownlee said unlicensed
banking undercuts legitimate business, and bypasses
government monitoring, which makes sure money isn’t
headed to "illegal organizations."
All four defendants were charged with operating an
unlicensed money transferring business, a felony
punishable by up to five years in prison.
Abdullah and Noroly face an additional charge of
theft of public money, because they received housing
assistance without reporting the bank’s assets on
applications, prosecutors have said.
At the time of the indictment, Assistant U.S.
Attorney Tim Heaphy said transferring money to the
defendants’ homeland by conventional methods would
have been difficult.
"I don’t think some of the areas where the customers
have families have any banking system at all," he
said in October.
But Heaphy also said the men could have gotten the
correct license but didn’t.
The Defense
Darren Bostic, Rashid’s attorney, says prosecutors
have not alleged that the unlicensed business sent
money to terrorists.
And, Bostic said, that before the passage of the
Patriot Act in the weeks after Sept. 11, 2001, the
case against his client would not have been
prosecuted.
Pre-Sept. 11 rules required that those charged know
they are breaking the law, Bostic said. After the
Patriot Act, prosecutors must only show money was
transferred, and the business was unlicensed, the
attorney said.
Facing the new rules, Bostic says, he considered
having his client plead guilty and seek lesser
punishment.
After prosecutors said they wouldn’t ask for jail
time, and immigration officials said deportation for
Rashid was unlikely, Bostic entered a guilty plea on
his client’s behalf in early March, he said.
"I think my guy is a really nice guy," Bostic said.
"I don’t think he ever intended to do anything wrong
by the laws in the United States."
The Petition
A small group is coordinating the petition effort,
said Michael Medley, a professor at Eastern
Mennonite University, who circulated the petition.
In February, Medley says, the group met with some of
the defendants and heard their story. According to
the petition, the defendants were among dozens of
families the U.S. government brought to the United
States from northern Iraq as political refugees.
After settling in Harrisonburg, the men began
sending money for families, including their own,
whose relatives were still in northern Iraq.
"They were helping family and relatives survive. It
seems like a noble thing," Medley said. "We are
shocked that here they are now charged with
felonies."
The case became part of a documentary made by EMU
students. The documentary shows Kurdish families
adjusting to life in Harrisonburg. The free film
played at Court Square Theater last month.
So Medley says many in the community had heard of
the case by the time the petition began circulating
two weeks ago.
Still, the number of people who signed was a
pleasant surprise, organizers say.
"It’s wonderful to see this many people ready to
sign their names and speak out," said Ruth Stoltzfus
Jost, who published an opinion column about the case
in the Daily News-Record.
Also Supportive
One signer, Kathy Fisher, has lived in the Middle
East, and says it is difficult for people who are
living in a different culture to know all of the
United States’ laws.
"It’s very believable to me that this is a sincere
mistake," she said. "Especially having known
[Abdullah’s family] and having seen they are normal,
really good-hearted people."
Fisher says she signed the petition in part because
prosecuting unwitting lawbreakers is a waste of the
government’s time and money.
Another signer, David Kreutzer, who says he’s a
strong supporter of the Patriot Act, learned about
the case from a co-worker. After some discussion, he
signed on. But he says he’d like to hear more of the
prosecution’s side.
But as far as he understands the case now, it’s
sounds as if prosecutors are being overzealous.
"By the letter of the law, they have violated it,"
Kreutzer said. "But it seems outside the spirit of
the law."
Dailynews-record com
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