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Saudi Bank Records Scrutinized

Sat, Nov 22, 2003 at 9:46:32 pm PST

Important breaking news, just coming to light now; earlier this summer, the FBI subpoenaed records for dozens of bank accounts owned by the Saudi Embassy, to try to discover how much of the millions of dollars the Saudis spend in the US each year has gone into the hands of Islamic radicals: Bank Data for Saudi Embassy Subpoenaed.

The wide-ranging investigation into the $300 million a year the Saudi Embassy spends here was launched this summer, just as the U.S. and Saudi governments were hailing a new era of cooperation in the fight against Muslim terrorism. Earlier this year, U.S. and Saudi officials established the first-ever joint task force to track terrorist financing in Saudi Arabia.
U.S. officials said the FBI's Washington field office subpoenaed the records of dozens of Saudi bank accounts to determine whether Saudi government money knowingly or unknowingly helped fund extremists in the United States. Although many Saudi entities have been investigated in the past, U.S. officials said this was the first investigation to directly probe Saudi government funds.

Senior U.S. officials said they do not recall any other time when the bank records of an embassy were subpoenaed.

The probe, U.S. officials said, was approved by the National Security Council working group on terrorist financing at the request of several congressional leaders. The investigation focuses on the financial activities of the Islamic and cultural affairs office of the embassy as well as the activities of Saudi consulates around the United States, officials said.

The subpoenas outraged Saudi officials, who believe they were unnecessary.

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34 comments

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Tamar Sat, Nov 22, 2003 7:55:28pm

Unfortunately, as the Justice Dept. knows full well, most Muslim money bypasses banks and is transfered by the Islamic system " Hawala".

More deception from those who omitted 28 pages, and have waitd until now to announce even this meager and dubious "investigation".

Ken Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:03:46pm

Doesn't diplomatic immunity under the Vienna convention apply to these accounts ? Or does this mean that the US is finally realising that one cannot apply the norms of civilized Western behaviour to these people.

Josh Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:04:05pm

Do we get to find out how much of that goes to democratic presidential compaigns?

Orbit Rain Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:15:40pm

A more political response from the Saudi's would be "we have nothing to hide"...It's not like those countries "out there" don't already try and track what we spend where...especially in their domains...

This is a world of sovereigns, after all, and it's not like we aren't paying attention to what you're doing, our dear friends, the Saudi's.

ISLAM SUCKS Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:18:52pm

The subpoenas outraged Saudi officials, who believe they were unnecessary.

Good. But they are right. They are unnecessary. The Sauds should just be arrested on the spot with no more bullshit investigations. These terrorist fucks need to go.

quark2 Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:19:07pm

The fraudies will scream, whine and seethe, stopping the investigation before it gets off of the ground. Just like the thread reporting the program designed to register all muslim/arabs ethnic groups has been stopped because of fear of hurting their feelings.
This whole thing just makes me want to puke.
I am sick and tired of these whining screeching bloodlusting creeps that our leaders keep bending over backwards to appease.
When they finally go over the top, I am prepared to fully blame our leaders for the blood that will be shed. Maybe there are some western leaders who should be brought up on war crimes when the terror keeps taking lives because no one has the moral responsibility to stop them.

/rant

SoCalJustice Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:20:22pm

The subpoenas outraged Saudi officials

Outraged Arabs?

I don't believe it. Just another Zionist-run media lie.

Shifra Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:20:59pm

In fact, the official said, the Saudi government subsequently turned over embassy spending records for the past 20 years, including records of Saudi payments for educational expenses and medical attention for Saudi nationals here.

Looks to me as if the Saudis are giving so much extra information the incriminating evidence won't be found in all the extraneous data.

quark2 Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:28:23pm

@8 Shifra

They are just making layers of paper trails to stop any effective investigation. They have been getting away with crime for years, and this is just another bump in the road to them. Nothing will come of this. Our government will find a way to cover up their crimes once again. Go State! yeah right.

dgd Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:29:40pm

"The subpoenas outraged Saudi officials, who believe they were unnecessary."

Sure, sure, sure. Just ask us what we did with the money, we won't lie to you, I mean, us, your loyal allies lie, perish the thought.

Amos Sat, Nov 22, 2003 8:45:22pm

OT, a vital read for any European who doesn't want to live under the filter of Big Brother.
The Vienna-based European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia: "all your reports are belong to us".

jimmytheclaw Sat, Nov 22, 2003 9:02:12pm

you think that pisses em off wait till the accounts start getting frozen

HULUGU Sat, Nov 22, 2003 9:07:26pm

"its so HUMILIATING to be audited"--al-jubair a/k/a the worm of shared values--can you imagine how much cash prince bandaid must hand out in the dark(to ex-pols and american suckup thinktankers on the saudi 401k plan)--they better check the madrassas 'r us account--thats where the real swag goes--the kingdom of saudi gynophobia--funding the fundos for the lesser struggle in the path of allah and his profligate Mehorrid(penus be up him)

quark2 Sat, Nov 22, 2003 9:17:31pm

@13 HUGULU

While they are at it, investigating the fraudis bank accounts, they might start investigating ALL State Department employees. That includes diplomats.
And it should start the investigation going back at least 30 years
I am ready to see some blood drawn from the people who have been selling this country down the toilet.
Maybe we need some covert investigations to happen.
I'm ready for some new rope action.

Mojo Jojo Sat, Nov 22, 2003 9:36:04pm

#14 quark2

While they are at it, investigating the
fraudis bank accounts, they might start investigating ALL State Department employees. That includes diplomats.

I would love to see how much money former State Department employees have received over the years from the Saudi's. I bet that the Saudi's pay them from other countries using direct deposit or a paper bag full of cash.

quark2 Sat, Nov 22, 2003 9:48:10pm

@15 Mojo Jojo

All they need to so is start auditing the State employees, inventory their assets. Then make them show with concrete proof where the assets came from.
If they do a bean counter kind of audit, you'll soon have numerous employees walking around with very tight ass holes.
The thought of that makes me feel much better

Geepers Sat, Nov 22, 2003 10:10:02pm

Tamar (#1),

Your post makes no sense.

ISLAM SUCKS (#5),

The Sauds should just be arrested on the spot with no more bullshit investigations.

On what charges?

quark2 (#6),

The fraudies will scream, whine and seethe, stopping the investigation before it gets off of the ground.

If its been approved by the FBI and started 6 months ago what evidence do you have that it will be stopped "before it gets off the ground"? How long have you known about this investigation and its scope?

Shifra (#8),

Looks to me as if the Saudis are giving so much extra information the incriminating evidence won't be found in all the extraneous data.

Say what? That doesn't even make sense.

quark2 (#9),

Our government will find a way to cover up their crimes once again.

And what crimes would those be? Oh right, the ones nobody knows about because they were covered up. [rolls eyes]

Dr. Dweeble Sat, Nov 22, 2003 10:11:16pm

"The subpoenas outraged Saudi officials, who believe they were unnecessary."

1) So they would be perfectly willing to hand it all over without the paperwork?

2) Are these dudes ever NOT outraged?

Imagine going through life being apoplectic about just every damned thing. Explains a lot.

fiery celt Sat, Nov 22, 2003 10:25:09pm

More Saudi duplicity...

Saudis placate Islamist radicals :: Royals, clergy bargain to stop terror with those close to al-Qaida, bin Laden

Islamic radicals and Saudi leaders have ''reunited'' to save the kingdom following a three-day meeting last weekend of royal family members, Muslim clerics and those sympathetic with Osama bin Laden.

Crown Prince Abdullah and a group of more than 40 Saudi scholars gathered in Mecca for discussions on mediation between the government and al-Qaida. The meeting included a mentor of Osama bin Laden, Muslim theologian Safar al-Hawali, who denies claims that the recent Riyadh bombing could be considered jihad.

Al-Hawali is the secretary general of the Global Anti-Aggression Campaign, which was established in April in Egypt by more than 225 religious and political figures over the Islamic world ...''The Muslim nation has been subjected to vicious aggression at the hands of the forces of tyranny and oppression, especially the Zionists and the American administration led by right-wing extremists,'' read a statement by the founders of the group.

Saudi authorities decided to initiate dialogue with the radicals to ask them not to bring instability into the kingdom. ...

DarthMaulrulesok Sat, Nov 22, 2003 10:43:31pm

I hope someone compares the dates/times of the various financial transactions with dates of known terrorist attacks. Some interesting results might crop up.

Also, funds given to Imans and Islamic preachers as well as madrassas should be carefully traced. This may provide information about at least part of the network of terrorist recruiters and trainers.

quark2 Sat, Nov 22, 2003 11:12:52pm

@17 Geepers

...and just whose side are you on?
Over and over it has been noted that the Saudi government and the Royal house of Saud has been
excused from very apparent links to terrorism through funding.
If you're going to start attacking the posters here, just go ahead and name your poison now son, and we'll be glad to oblige you.
And I hope while you're in the process of rolling your eyes they don't become permanently stuck in an awkward position.

Morgan Sun, Nov 23, 2003 12:32:09am

Here's some more on our Saudi friends - doing a little snooping around Jewish schools in Baltimore.

"The FBI is investigating a Saudi college student and his American wife who recently videotaped a Jewish school in Baltimore and said they sent the footage to Saudi Arabia, according to law enforcement officials and community leaders who know about the case.

The Saudi man, who came to the United States on a student visa four years ago, and his wife were seen videotaping an Orthodox school for girls, Beit Yakov, on Oct. 26 and fled after witnesses wrote down their automobile's license plate number, officials said. Law enforcement officials were contacted and later interviewed the couple, who said the video was intended for the man's parents in Saudi Arabia."

In case you have to be told, the wife is later described as a Muslim convert.

Perhaps King Fahd is viewing the tape right now at a bachelor party for his nephew, the Sultan of Spew. Or more likely, it goes into the truck bomb database, replacing the Turkish synagogue which no longer exists.

[Link: www.boston.com...]

oregonian Sun, Nov 23, 2003 1:00:55am

#13 HULUGU - You highlighted the key term here. Humiliation. In most western and eastern thought, humility is a good thing. For a man to show humility is a sign of righteousness. It puts the average man in his place on the cosmic scale. The problem is that Islam teaches that muslims are supposedly in a position of superiority over all other other men. And anything that brings that superiority in to doubt is the worst thing that can happen to a moslem. Unfortunately for muslims, they have not lived up to their own ideals. Us infidels have bettered them at just about anything you can name. Technology, science, philosophy, and even theology are all superior in the west, and even in the east. Islam is the bitter dregs of religion and culture.

quark2 Sun, Nov 23, 2003 4:00:06am

@23 oregonian

The muslim family structure isn't stable either. With each family member living in fear perpetually that one of their own can/and do turn against you at any time there is no security even within the home. These people live their lives founded on psychological quicksand from birth to death. They do not value life, therefore the immediate family members are viewed as cannon fodder for the moongod. There is no solace, inner peace or joy in life for them, only hatred, violence and ultimately death. If they are talented, the creative juices are stomped down into the dirt at an early age, I believe these are the most cursed people in the world.
They have allowed a hollow and cruel belief to cheat them of a rich and rewarding life.
So they go around 'acting' superior, when they are the most inept, ineffective group with no show of productivity, just chaos and destruction.
Everything they touch turns to shit.

ISLAM SUCKS Sun, Nov 23, 2003 6:16:03am

#17 Geeper-

I'm sorry. You're right. The Sauds are as innocent as Nazi diplomats that had nothing to do with the murder of 20 million people. We should be inviting them to the country club for drinks, not arresting them, and hanging the ones we don't deport to the shit hole they came from.

Geepers Sun, Nov 23, 2003 6:30:18am

quark2 (#21),

...and just whose side are you on?

Well, I'm on the side that says facts in evidence speak louder than broad declarations of Saudi duplicity.

And making sweeping suggestions about "government" cover-ups of Saudi crimes isn't going to get real results.

If you've got a valid criticism about this investigation, by all means lets hear it. But if you read the article it says that they've already turned over 20 years worth of records in an unprecedented investigation into a foreign embassy's finances and funding.

The Saudi's are masters of the pay-off game, and this investigation is a huge step in the right direction, why are you claiming otherwise?

You've said the investigation won't be effective, will be toward by foreign nationals and if it does produce any results that the guilty parties will walk due to government intervention and cover-up.

Who's side are you on?

ISLAM SUCKS Sun, Nov 23, 2003 6:49:01am

Geepers- It doesn't take a brain dead corpse to realize that Saudi Arabia funds the global Jihad like NO OTHER dictatorship. Take them down, and the violence around the world will decline. Now YOU tell ME why we shouldn't shut these terrorist fucks down.

Tamar Sun, Nov 23, 2003 6:51:41am

Quark-2

Why have the Saudis been granted over 2 years (since 9-11) to prepare themselves for this "investigation"?

Steve Pomerantz, former assistant Chief of the FBI, says that the Feds were PREVENTED from any serious investigation of the Saudis, or their front organisations, by Clinton & Bush White Houses. He should know.

Also, if you can take the time to RESEARCH, instead of delivering lectures, you'd come to realise that MOST ARAB MONEY is never transfered using "banks"---They use a system called " Hawala" instead---and leave no records for those pesky infidels to discover.

The current charade, er, uh, "investigation" will turn up only what the Saudis and the White Tent want found.

Clear enough? Make sense?

Jimmy the Dimmy Sun, Nov 23, 2003 7:10:13am

Slight change of subject:
A senior al Qaeda militant orchestrated the bombing of a residential compound in Saudi Arabia earlier this month by telephone from Iran, a Saudi newspaper says.

[Link: www.abc.net.au...]

This should be viewed by Saudi Arabia as as an act of war on Saudi Arabia by Iran. But instead, it is not. Why? Because the governments have culpable deniability from responsibility for terrorism. Until this dynamic is changed, until not only governments but the religious-political figures (especially) realize that they can be held responsible for these acts, then we will not have any sense of resolution regarding the war on terror.

J.D. Sun, Nov 23, 2003 7:14:02am

If you care to air your opinion:
Can Al-Qaeda be defeated? Have your say.

Geepers Sun, Nov 23, 2003 7:14:03am

ISLAM SUCKS (#27),

I didn't say we shouldn't take them down, I said we need something more than calling them "terrorists fucks" to make it happen.

You need to recognize that.

We can't and won't make it happen overnight. This isn't some movie where the good guys bust in, find the smoking gun, King Fahd bin Abdul Aziz abdicates and all the madrassas suddenly disappear.

A case has to be made against them. And as far as I know this is the first administration to actually start building that case. I'd think you would applaud that. Why aren't you?

And once again, arresting them on what charges?

ISLAM SUCKS Sun, Nov 23, 2003 7:38:50am

Geepers- I don't think this is a movie. If I thought it was a movie, I would have walked out long ago. But what evidence do you expect to find? And whom should this evidence satisfy? How much evidence did we have against the Taliban? We didn't have to subpoena anything to take those TERRORIST FUCKS out. Why is it any different for the terrorist state of Saudi Arabia? Do you deny that there is more than enough evidence of the Saudis financial and ideological support of murderers around the world?! If so, then you would need to pull your head out of whatever dark hole it is in.

quark2 Sun, Nov 23, 2003 12:10:42pm

@26 Geepers

"Well, I'm on the side that says facts in evidence speak louder than broad declarations of Saudi duplicity."

Oh pul leeze! This crap has been going on for over 30 years! I've worked with these people, and by their own admission they are liars, hypocrits and cheats. What ever made you assume you could ever trust anything you watched them do? What ever records they turned over have been cleaned up. This is all a whitewash in the making to prove to the American people just how honest and loyal they are to us as allies.
And if you are willing to believe the shamus game they are playing, I'll ask again. Whose side are you on?

@28 Tamar

You have misinterpreted my posting. I am not advocating any kind of cover up for the fraudis.
I have been wanting to see justice where they are concerned since 9.12.01
And, I am not sure why you think my personal view on this is a lecture.

I Scalp Saudi Muslims Mon, Nov 24, 2003 9:01:33pm

Yankees Brits and other Freedom loving people are greasing their bullets with pig fat, ha ah ha, burn in hell Saudi muslim bastards! When we conquer Saudi Arabia, first thing we need to do, is bring in a Pig Cooker and a few old time ... Once those bastards smell that pig a cooking...they ...(you fill in the words)