Texan Accused of Illegally Shipping Computer to Arab Countries
WASHINGTON, Feb. 8 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - Federal authorities Thursday arrested the principal owner of a suburban Dallas computer firm on charges of making illegal shipments of computer goods to Egypt, Jordan and Saudi Arabia.
Ihsan "Sammy" Elashyi, 41, was charged with making 12 illegal shipments to Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, after the Commerce Department barred his Tetrabel Company of Richardson, Texas, on Sept. 7 from making further international sales.
U.S. Magistrate Jeff Kaplan ordered Elashyi held until a detention hearing Friday. The suspect has denied any wrongdoing.
Each charge carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine.
The Dallas Morning News reported Friday that the arrest and indictment of Elashyi was the first criminal action resulting of a two-year investigation by the North Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force.
The company was the target of a three-day search by the task force in early September, and an asset-freezing order cited a $250,000 investment by the wife of a political leader of the Islamic Resistance Movement, or Hamas.
The Palestinian resistance group was recently placed on the U.S. State Department's list of terrorist organizations.
Elashyi, who founded his computer company two years ago, is also a representative of InfoCom Corp., an Internet services company operated by three of his brothers in Richardson.
Mr. Elashyi's brothers have denied any wrongdoing. None has been accused of any crime.
The Commerce Department's Bureau of Export Administration had already suspended export privileges of InfoCom and Tetrabal for allegedly shipping equipment to Libya and Syria without authorization.
An InfoCom client co-founded and directed by one of Elashyi's brothers, Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, closed in December after the Treasury Department accused the self-described charity of being a Hamas front and seized its assets.
