Con Artist Who Targeted
Muslims Extradited to US
Washington, DC: The
Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) has announced
that an alleged con artist who targeted Muslims has been
extradited from Canada to the United States to face federal
charges. CAIR also called on victims of the “stranded
traveler” scam to provide any information that may
be useful to prosecutors in the case.
Mohammed Agbareia made an initial appearance Monday in US
District Court in Alabama on charges of wire fraud and conspiracy
to commit wire fraud. FBI officials say a co-defendant,
Zouhair Hissy, was arrested in Canada on January 4. The
two men were indicted by a federal grand jury in Mobile,
Ala., for trying to bilk a local Islamic center out of $1500
using a scam that relied on the Islamic tradition of helping
travelers in distress.
SEE: Canada Returns Suspect in Fraud Case
The alleged con-artist’s primary method of operation
was to place phone calls claiming to be a well-known Muslim
leader, official or scholar stranded at an airport after
his money, passport and tickets had been stolen or lost.
He would ask the intended victim, typically a leader or
activist in a local Muslim community, to wire cash through
MoneyGram or Western Union to help him out of the crisis.
After receiving the funds, he would disappear.
In May of last year, CAIR called on Canadian authorities
to apprehend and extradite Agbareia and Hissy. CAIR said
it has been receiving reports about Agbareia’s scam
for many years and had issued a number of alerts to the
Muslim community in this country and worldwide. Agbareia
was arrested in 2002 by Canadian authorities but was later
released.
“All those individuals and institutions targeted in
the ‘stranded traveler’ con should now provide
information to prosecutors so they can build their case
based on the evidence built up over almost 20 years,”
said CAIR Executive Director Nihad Awad.
Over the years, Awad and CAIR worked with law enforcement
authorities in a number of countries in an effort to bring
the alleged con artists to justice. He said Muslims worldwide
have been defrauded of hundreds of thousands, perhaps millions,
of dollars.
ACTION REQUESTED: All those who believe they were targeted
by the “stranded traveler” scam should send
information about their case to: Special Agent Tom Montgomery,
FBI Mobile, 200 North Royal Street, Mobile, Alabama, 36602
Tel: (251) 438-3674
E-Mail: cdahle@leo.gov
Copy to: ihooper@cair-net.or
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