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Charity official pleads not guilty to aiding terrorists
CHICAGO, Illinois (CNN) -- The leader of an Islamic charity pleaded not guilty Friday to charges that he helped subsidize various terrorist organizations. including al Qaeda. The plea was entered by the attorney for Enaam Arnaout, director of Benevolence International Foundation, based in the Chicago suburb of Paols Hills. Arnaout, 40, was indicted last week on seven counts, including conspiracy to engage in racketeering enterprises, conspiracy to provide material support to terrorist organizations, wire fraud, and two counts each of mail fraud and money laundering. If convicted, Arnaout could be sentenced to 90 years in prison without the possibility of parole. The FBI contends Arnaout has had a decades-long relationship with Osama bin Laden and his associates, and used his charity organization both to illicitly obtain funds for terrorist organizations from unsuspecting people, and to serve as a channel for people to knowingly contribute money to such groups. Arnaout is the first U.S. citizen indicted on charges of transferring money to al Qaeda and other terrorist organizations. The Syrian-born naturalized citizen has been in federal custody since he was arrested April 30 on the perjury charges. The U.S. government froze the charity's assets last year. The fraud and racketeering charges were announced last week by Attorney General John Ashcroft. The Arnaout case is part of U.S. efforts to stop the flow of dollars to terrorists. Federal prosecutors say charities are being used to camouflage the funding of bin Laden and anti-American warlord Gulbeddin Hekmatyar in Afghanistan.
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