Man Alleged to
Have Sold Fake IDs to Hijackers Flees U.S.
 |
| A man
suspected of providing fake IDs to some 9-11 hijackers was not
in the U.S. when authorities raided his home and business |
NEW
YORK, August 1 (IslamOnline & News Agencies) - A man accused of
selling fake identification to some of the September 11 hijackers kept
ahead of U.S. law enforcement by flying to Egypt before his house and
business in Paterson and Elizabeth, New Jersey were raided on
Wednesday, July 31, police said.
Sheriff
Jerry Speziale told reporters in New Jersey that police had swept down
on Mohammad El-Atriss, an Egyptian immigrant, only to find he had
already taken a plane to Egypt, on what they were informed was a
business trip.
Speziale
said El-Atriss, also known as Mohamed Abraham, had flown from Newark
to Cairo, reports news agencies.
However,
Speziale said there was some hope that El-Atriss would return and
could be arrested on multiple fraud charges.
"A
phone call came into the location prior to our arrival there that he
was en route back from his trip," Speziale said during a press
conference broadcast on CNN.
Police
alleged that El-Atriss had sold some kind of fake ID to two hijackers
- Khalid Almihdhar, who was on American Airlines Flight 77 that hit
the Pentagon, and Abdul-Aziz Alomari, who boarded American Airlines
Flight 11 that crashed into the World Trade Center.
El-Atriss
allegedly ran a large ring making fake IDs and came under
investigation around four months ago after New Jersey police noticed a
sudden rise in the number of false documents confiscated from
individuals.
"This
location in Paterson was a location run by Mohammad el-Atriss and he
basically was providing documents for all kinds of people, whether it
be illegal aliens, criminal aliens or even hijackers," Speziale
said, reports news agencies.
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El-Atriss
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Three
El-Atriss associates were arrested on charges of conspiracy and
manufacturing false documents, Speziale said.
Police
stressed that El-Atriss was not considered a terrorist "big
fish," suggesting he may have had no idea of what the September
11 hijackers planned to do.
However,
he is considered a fugitive wanted on 28 counts of fraud involving the
manufacture and distribution of fraudulent documents and conspiracy
charges.
During
the raid Wednesday, police found 75 fake IDs, which El-Atriss had
allegedly sold for as much as $800 apiece.
Local
authorities said El-Atriss, who may be a naturalized U.S. citizen
through marriage, is believed to have made dozens of fake IDs, in
particular state identification cards and international drivers'
licenses, reports CNN.
The
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), which investigated him last
fall, said it had filed no federal charges against El-Atriss.
Under
questioning, El-Atriss told the FBI he provided a fake drivers license
to one of the hijackers, said FBI spokeswoman Sandra Carroll.
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