Wednesday, March 7, 2007

Grand jury indicts Plano man with mail fraud and making false statements in used car sales

A federal grand jury in Dallas indicted Massoud Mortazavi-Koupai of Plano with six counts of mail fraud and three counts of making a false statement on transfer of a used motor vehicle, related to a fraudulent scheme which included concealing structural damage and odometer discrepancies. It is anticipated that Mortazavi-Koupai, 46, will surrender to federal authorities and then appear before a U.S. magistrate judge.

A 33-count indictment unsealed on Wednesday charges the Islamic American Relief Agency, or IARA, headquartered in Columbia, Mo., and charity officers and associates with a range of crimes related to money transfers to Iraq.

The Islamic charitable organization, formerly known as the Islamic African Relief Agency-USA, was formed in 1985 and closed in October 2004 after the U.S. Treasury Department said it was a global terrorist organization.

According to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Missouri, the group is accused of transferring more than $1.4 million to Iraq from March 1991 to May 2003 in violation of laws imposing sanctions on Iraq.

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Islamic charity indicted for money laundering

Grand jury indicts Plano man with mail fraud and making false statements in used car sales