FBI's Top Ten Stories For the Week Ending July 27, 2007

1. Houston: U.S. Citizen Sentenced to Prison for Receiving Military Training from a Terrorist Organization

Daniel Joseph Maldonado, a.k.a. Daniel Aljughaifi, admitted he had traveled from Houston to Africa in November 2005 and then to Somalia in December 2006 to join the Islamic Courts Union and elements of al Qaeda to fight “jihad.” Maldonado was captured by Kenyan military authorities as he tried to avoid capture by Somalian forces and turned over to American authorities and flown to Houston accompanied by Special Agents of the FBI. He has been sentenced to ten years in prison. 

2. Chicago: Former Director of Illinois Department of Corrections (IDOC) Indicted for Receiving Kickbacks

Donald N. Snyder, Jr. was indicted for receiving kickbacks while serving in the state cabinet under former Governor George Ryan. This indictment stems from an investigation that grew out of the Operation Safe Road probe of corruption during Ryan’s term as Governor and, earlier, Secretary of State. The agencies involved in this investigation included the FBI, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the IRS and the U.S. Department of Transportation. 

3. St. Louis: Three Officials Indicted for Securities Fraud Related to Stock Options Backdating Scheme

Three Officials of Engineered Support Systems, Inc. - Michael Shanahan, Sr., Chairman of the Board of Directors and CEO; Michael Shanahan, Jr., member of the Board of Directors and Compensation Committee; and Gary C. Gephardt, CFO - were indicted on multiple counts of fraud in connection with a stock options backdating scheme. The company’s compensation expenses were understated and its net income overstated by approximately $20 million as a result of the backdating. The case is being investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the FBI. 

4. Los Angeles: Operation “Summer Solstice” Results in Multiple Arrests in China and Seizures of Counterfeit Microsoft and Symantec Hardware

Operation “Summer Solstice” which began in 2005 was an international investigation conducted jointly by the FBI and the People’s Republic of China Ministry of Public Security (MPS) and resulted in multiple arrests and the seizure of hundreds of millions of dollars worth of counterfeit software. This operation also encompasses multiple investigations currently being conducted by the Los Angeles FBI and the MPS, Economic Crime Investigation Department. The joint investigation was facilitated and supported by the IP Criminal Enforcement Working Group of the U.S.-China Joint Liaison Group for law enforcement. 

5. Detroit: One of Michigan’s Top 10 Business Leaders From 1984 Sentenced For Fraud and Money Laundering

Ilene Ruth Moses, age 70, was sentenced to 210 months in prison and ordered to pay in excess of $15 million in restitution for wire fraud, mail fraud, bank fraud, money laundering, conspiracy to launder money, bankruptcy fraud, perjury and making false statements to the FBI. The fraud involved the use of a number of shell companies in Europe and Hong Kong and a system of phony paperwork. In the 1980s, Mrs. Moses operated a clothing manufacturing and sales business and was honored by the UN for her business success. 

6. San Antonio: U.S. Army Major and Wife Charged With Money Laundering and Bribery

Major John L. Cockerham was charged with accepting millions of dollars (approximately $9.6 million) in bribes from contractors who had Department of Defense contracts in Iraq and Kuwait that Major Cockerham awarded or controlled. Melissa Cockerham received the money and deposited it in bank accounts and safe deposit boxes in Kuwait and Dubai. The case is being investigated by special agents of the Special Inspector General for Iraq Reconstruction; the Army Criminal Investigation Division, Defense Criminal Investigative Service; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement at the Department of Homeland Security; the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation Division; and the FBI. 

7. New York: Arms Traffickers Found Guilty in Plots to Smuggle High-Powered Military Weapons Into the United States

From December 2003 through March 15, 2005, Artur Solomonyan, Christiaan Dewet Spies, and Ioseb Kharabadze brokered a deal to import RPGs, SAMs, anti-tank missile systems, and other military weapons from Eastern Europe into the United States for sale to a confidential informant posing as an arms trafficker. The defendants delivered the weapons to various storage facilities rented by the FBI in New York City, Los Angeles, and Fort Lauderdale. The agencies involved in this investigation included the FBI, the New York Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the Department of Homeland Security’s U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. 

8. New York: Maryland Man Sentenced for Providing Material Support to a Terrorist Organization

Mahmud Faruq Brent, a.k.a. Mahmud Almutazzim, was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, Lashkar-e-Taiba (“Army of the Pure”), which is committed to violent jihad against the United States and its allies. The agencies involved in this investigation were the New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, the New York City Police Department and the FBI. 

9. Washington Field Office: “Virginia Jihad” Member Sentenced

Sabri Benkahla was sentenced to 121 months in federal prison and ordered to pay a $17,500 fine on one count of perjury before the grand jury, one count of obstruction of justice with respect to a grand jury investigation, and one count of making false official statements to the FBI. This investigation arose as part of the investigation of individuals attending the Dar al Arqam Islamic Center in Falls Church, VA. The case was investigated by the FBI. 

10. Honolulu: Individual Charged With Theft of Government Property

Joseph U.R.M. Elibosang was charged with Theft of Government Property for selling at least 23 of the 34 bronze name plates stolen from the Pacific National Park, Asian Overlook in Guam. The plates bore the names of Guam citizens and US soldiers who lost their lives in WWII. The agencies involved in this investigation were the Guam Police Department and Customs and Quarantine Agency, Guam; Hong Kong Customs and Excise; the FBI Legal Attache, Hong Kong; Hong Kong Police; and the US Department of Homeland Security, US Customs and Border Protection.