Sunday, August 24, 2014

U.S.: Dearborn cleric popular with ISIS fighters owes $250K for fraud

8/24/2014


A cleric in Dearborn well known with supporters of the militant group ISIS owes a quarter of a million dollars in restitution and other charges stemming from his fraud convictions, according to newly filed court records.Ahmad Jebril, 43, who has gained an...



A cleric in Dearborn well known with supporters of the militant group ISIS owes a quarter of a million dollars in restitution and other charges stemming from his fraud convictions, according to newly filed court records.
Ahmad Jebril, 43, who has gained an international following amongst ISIS fighters and sympathizers, is on probation soon after serving 6½ years in prison. Just after being released in 2012, he has used social media to turn out to be what authorities say is the most well known religious leader for Islamists from the West fighting for ISIS, also recognized as ISIL or the Islamic State.
On Wednesday, President Barack Obama strongly condemned ISIS for decapitating American journalist James Foley and massacring men and women as it advances in Iraq, calling to “extract this cancer so that it does not spread.” The U.S. launched air strikes this month against the group and will continue them, Obama said.
Federal authorities in Detroit are trying to gather a lot more than $250,000 in restitution from Jebril and a lot more than $three,600 in particular assessments for 42 counts of fraud. So far, Jebril has paid only $two,790, according to a motion filed Aug. 11 by the U.S. Attorney’s workplace in Detroit. On Aug. 12, U.S. District Judge Gerald Rosen authorized the government’s motion, which calls for “actions necessary to enforce the collection of the restitution.”
In the motion, federal prosecutors wrote that a probation officer said she has “financial info about (Jebril) that would be helpful” to set up an “appropriate repayment schedule.” Jebril’s liability for restitution expires 20 years soon after his release from prison, which suggests he would have to pay far more than $1,000 a month to pay his amount in full, which he is at the moment not meeting, stated prosecutors.
Jebril and his lawyer did not returns calls or an e-mail seeking comment. He was to appear for a deposition in the case on Aug. 13.
The government’s move to collect dollars from Jebril comes soon after Rosen placed restrictions on the Dearborn cleric in June due to the fact of his probation violations. Jebril was traveling out of state to speak at Islamic centers, but now is not permitted to leave the eastern half of Michigan and should share info about his computer system activity to his probation officers if asked. The restrictions came after a Free Press report in Might that noted his comprehensive activities on line.
The Centre for the Study of Radicalisation and Political Violence released a report in April that said Jebril was the most well known inspirational figure for Western fighters flocking to the Middle East to join ISIS. Jebril’s “popularity is especially sturdy amongst groups like ISIS,” the report mentioned. Amongst the militants the center surveyed, a lot more than half of these who liked Jebril on his Facebook page and followed him on Twitter have been with ISIS.
“A number of British ISIS fighters have told us that they watched his (Jebril’s) lecture series ...prior to embarking on jihad,” the report stated, which was written by three safety authorities for a center affiliated with five universities.
Jebril generally interacts on Twitter with fighters associated with ISIS and other groups, the report said.
The ISIS member who decapitated Foley in a video released this week sounded like he had a British accent, prompting a debate in England Wednesday over whether the ISIS member was British. FBI officials and the center that released the report have voiced issues about fighters from Western nations like England, the U.S., Australia, France, and Germany flocking to fight for ISIS and other radical groups.
Jebril also is common with Jabhat al-Nusra, a different extremist group that operates in Syria. Jebril’s Facebook web page was the most preferred amongst the fighters surveyed, according to the report.
Jebril and his father have been convicted in 2005 of 42 counts of fraud of virtually $400,000 that integrated mail fraud, bank fraud, failure to spend revenue tax and cash laundering.
The two deliberately defaced rental properties in order to collect insurance funds. They also had been convicted of attempting to bribe a juror in their trial by supplying to pay for her wedding if she helped acquit them.
Meanwhile, supporters of Jebril and ISIS are rallying on the internet to the defense of the Dearborn cleric, saying the government is unfairly cracking down on him.
In current weeks, followers have tweeted help for Jebril, claiming he is being silenced, but the government has not banned him from speaking out or posting on the web. Jebril’s popular Twitter (26,000-plus followers) and Facebook (219,000-plus likes) accounts have not posted something because July 9.

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