By Mark Scott
Buffalo, NY – New charges have been filed against a businessman from Lackawanna and two of his relatives for illegally sending large sums of money to Yemen.
Thursday's indictment from a federal grand jury accuses Mohamed Albanna, Ali Albanna and Ali Taher Elbaneh, all Yemeni-Americans, of transferring $3.5 million to Yemen without a required state license between November 2001 and December 2002. The group initially was charged in 2002 with sending about $500,000 during a shorter time period.
The new indictment also adds more charges that could expose the men to longer prison terms -- 10 years instead of five -- and adds a fourth defendant: a Yemeni man who allegedly received the transfers. A warrant was issued for the arrest of Abdul Wali Kushasha.
The original three were arrested in December 2002. They'll be arraigned on the new charges Monday.
Albanna is related to two members of the so-called Lackawanna Six, who were recently sentenced for attending an al Qaida training camp. But prosecutors say the money transfers are not linked to any terrorist activities.
Albanna has said the money was sent to family members in Yemen.
Albanna, also vice president of the American Muslim Council of Western New York, said Thursday he learned of the new indictment from a reporter. "It's not surprising," he said.