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No bail for man found with counterfeit checks

Omar Shishani

DETROIT, Michigan (CNN) -- A Jordanian-born man arrested with $12 million in counterfeit checks at the Detroit airport is to be held without bail, a federal magistrate ruled Wednesday, saying Omar Shishani is a flight risk and his possession of the checks was "highly suspicious."

Federal investigators are looking into whether Shishani, who arrived July 17 from Indonesia, is connected to the al Qaeda terrorist network.

Officials say his name was on documents found during raids at terrorist facilities in Pakistan and Afghanistan, which prompted officials to put his name on a watch list. But investigators are still trying to determine if the man named in those documents is the same Omar Shishani.

The United States has asked Indonesia for help in investigating Shishani's activities there. Indonesia is one of the countries where al Qaeda has been active.

A court document submitted by prosecutors Wednesday quotes Shishani as telling investigators, "If you want to know about terrorism, I can help you with that."

While he denied having sympathy for terrorism, Shishani told investigators that his business partner, Baharuddin Masse, may belong to al Qaeda, has made pro-al Qaeda statements and even named his daughter Al-Qaeda. Masse's name was on the counterfeit checks as the payee, according to prosecutors.

Some of the checks were post-dated for September 2002, a year to the month of the terrorist attacks, prosecutors said in their document.

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During a hearing Wednesday, Shishani pleaded not guilty to one count of possession of a counterfeit security and one count of smuggling merchandise into the United States.

U.S. Magistrate Thomas Carlson refused a defense request that Shishani be released on bond.

"The unexplained possession of fraudulent checks is highly suspicious," Carlson said. The magistrate also said Shishani is a flight risk with apparent access to large amounts of money.

The defense plans to appeal the decision to deny Shishani bond to the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati on Thursday.

Shishani's attorney, Nabih Ayad, said previously that his client was delivering the checks for a third party. He said Shishani, who is a U.S. citizen, is an international businessman, not a terrorist, and was put on the watch list solely because he is an Arab-American.

A U.S. Customs inspector in Detroit found nine counterfeit checks, totaling $12 million, in Shishani's bags.

Investigators said the checks are similar to others used in a scheme uncovered in Nevada by the Secret Service, which led to seven indictments. The Nevada investigation was not terrorism related.

According to the document filed Wednesday by prosecutors, Shishani told investigators that he was born in Jordan but was of Chechen descent. He claimed that his family has close relations with Jordan's king and military and that he served in the country's intelligence service from 1974 to 1976.

He told investigators that he lived Morocco and Saudi Arabia from 1976 until 1979, when he emigrated to the United States.

Prosecutors said that when he was arrested, Shishani had in his possession a piece of paper with references to verses in the Quran, "including those which appear to reference martyrs and ominous and apocalyptic events."

The next hearing in Shishani's case has been set for August 6.