Wail Salem (AKA Salem Wail Taleb) landed at Ben Gurion Airport in earlyJuly, 1996. Arriving from Chicago with US and Jordanian passports in hand,Salem went through Israeli customs without arousing any more suspicion thanmost other visiting Palestinians now living in the United States. Untilour reporters placed an inquiry, Israeli police and security officials saidthat they had never heard of him. They should have.
According to law enforcement officials in the US, and terrorism expertsin Israel, Salem fits the profile of a major Palestinian criminal who couldalso be a major fund-raiser for radical Islamic groups.
Salem is no longer simply the object of vague suspicions. He was arrestedin Chicago last February, a few days after returning to the United Statesafter a two-year stay mostly in the Palestinian Authority and Jordan. Further,US law enforcement sources say that Salem is being charged with stealingmillions of dollars in a series of illegal scams. The money is not accountedfor, and it could quite possibly be used to finance Islamic terrorist groupsin Israel and the territories.
Chicago is considered one of several important centers in the US usedby Islamic extremists to raise funds for their murderous actions half aworld away. Just last month, US federal authorities seized 1.5 million dollarsin cash and property from a Chicago-based Islamic organization that allegedlywas part of an elaborate money-laundering scheme to fund Middle East terrorismby Hamas. Some of the seized assets belonged to Mohammad Salah, who waspreviously convicted and served a five year prison term in Israel for channelingfunds to support Hamas terrorist activities. According to an FBI affidavitfiled in court, Salah funneled money from Europe and the Middle East toa US-based network of Hamas supporters who then provided cash to Hamas terroristsin Israel and Palestinian Authority controlled areas. Some of this moneywent for buying munitions and weapons in attacks against Israelis.
Like Salah, Wail Salem was ostensibly a simple stoscheduled for November. In the meantime he is allowed towork in the African Supermarket in Chicago. We called on several occasions.The store confirmed that Salem worked there but he was never available tospeak on the phone. Salem faces charges of heading a Palestinian gang involvedin what law enforcement officials told our reporters was "the largestfood-stamp fraud in the history of Chicago." Officials say Salem'sgang stole over $12 million in the scam. Salem allegedly ran other illegaloperations, and the total dollar amount may be much higher.
"There is no exact figure for the amount of money raised in theUS to finance terrorist activities." This according to the Prime Minister'sDeputy Terrorism advisor Sammy Mutzafi who told our reporters that "It'snearly impossible to stop the money from reaching Hamas and millions ofdollars get through annually."
Our reporters have discovered that Salem, 33, was allegedly ieas. You have a major hearsayproblem to overcome."
Rambam apparently had suspicions of organized criminal involvement inthe Salem case. Although under US law, he was restricted in the informationhe could provide our reporters on this specific case, Rambam said, "Certainorganizations, including radical Islamic groups view life insurance companiesas the perfect target for a 'just' scam. They see insurance policies asirresistible opportunities to take a lot of money from some enormously wealthy,faceless American corporation, and taking that money to help the Palestiniancause."
The insurance company decided to hire Rambam, aware that he had workedin Israel on other investigations. The problem in Salem's case was thatit involved the Palestinian Authority bureaucracy. Neither Rambam, nor anyother public or private American law enforcement agent had ever successfullydealt with the PA, which until this case had never cooperated in any USinvestigation of a Palestinian citizen.
Rambam is nothing if not industrious. The US investigator gained internationalrecognition last year for his undercover operation in Canada (first reportedin the Post and, later on CBS's 60 minutes) which revealed the presenceof 150 Nazi war criminals, many of whom he met face to face using falsepretense. Rambam also tracked down the real John J. Sullivan after the Hebrewpress claimed it was an alias used by Binyamin Netanyahu when he lived inthe US, and made headlines for exposing weak links in airport security bydemonstrating how easy it is to smuggle weapons aboard planes.
To crack the Salem case Palestinian sources report that Rambam beganhis investigation by traveling to Bethlehem to visit the Specialty SurgicalCenter. Sources report that under questioning the center's staff confirmedthat the SCC letter submitted as part of the Salem insurance claim was afake, and that in fact not only had Salem not died there, but no one hadever died at the center.
Sources say Rambam then went to the PA Security Services office in Ramallah.The Palestinians confirm that Rambam, accompanied by his Israeli associateAllon K. were brought into an office to meet a PA security agent and otherofficials from the PA. Rambam, who is legally prohibited from detailingthe discussions with the PA, did confirm that the meetings took place. Hetold our reporters, "The Palestinians seemed to be shocked to see methere in Ramallah." He added, "My first visit to the PA was duringthe unrest following the opening of the Hasmonean Tunnel in Jerusalem andthe checkpoints between Israel and the PA controlled areas were sealed."
A source close to the Palestinian investigation told our reporters thatwhen Rambam asked about Wail Salem and the authenticity of the PA deathcertificate, one of the PA agents stated, "Yes, we know about thisguy. He's in Amman right now." Rambam still needed to get an officialletter from the PA, certifying that Salem's death certificate was a phony.In March, 1998 PA officials in Ramallah told Rambam that he would have togo to the PA Interior Ministry's headquarters in Gaza to apply for the letter.He ended up having to make four trips on four successive days. In Gaza,Rambam kept getting bumped up the ladder to more senior PA officials, untileventually he met with the Director General of the Interior Ministry GeneralOmar Ahmed Shibli and with the director of the Ministries 'Nationalities'Division Jamal el-Shannout.
The Palestinians wouldn't prepare the letter for Rambam the first dayand told him to come back the next morning. He ended up coming back forabout 12 hours of meetings with Palestinian officials. "Basically,we spent a lot of time talking and drinking black coffee," said Rambam,who has worked on cases in dozens of countries during his 20 year career.Rambam said, "The Palestinian officials were better organized, andmuch more professional than I had been led to expect. One person, probablyan intelligence officer, was very well informed and seemed to know a lotabout people on the Israeli side. One Palestinian even asked me if I knewwho 'the Rambam' was, and began to tell me about 'Rabbi Musa.'"
"I was also, frankly very pleased by the pro-American attitude ofsome of the Palestinian rank-and-file. One of the Palestinians took me asideand said, "You know we're working very closely with some people whoyou know. We want to have a much closer relationship with American law enforcement."
The PA's Jamal el-Shannout told our reporters that Rambam was not immediatelygiven the document in question because, "We had never issued such adocument relating to a foreign prosecution, and we didn't have a policyon the issue." Rambam at one stage told his hosts, "Salem forgedofficial PA documents. If you want to be treated like a state then you haveto act like one, and assist with Salem's prosecution." Rambam was finallygiven the letter he had come for. Shannout told our reporters, "Thisis the first time we ever dealt with such a case. We were happy to help,and grateful to Rambam for his patience and professionalism." Shannoutclaims that the PA was not certain what were the motivations of Salem'sscam. Our reporters have confirmed that the letter from the PalestinianAuthority was given by Rambam to US law enforcement officials.
Although Salem may soon be charged with federal crimes related to hisfraudulent death claim, he has already been charged with food stamp fraud.He was arrested last February when he suddenly resurfaced by crossing theborder from Canada to the United States. He was arrested in his Chicagohome a few days later.
Counter-terrorism experts in the US say that food stamp fraud is a traditionalfavorite of Hamas money raisers. Our reporters have obtained a copy of theUnited States District Court criminal complaint issued against Salem inDecember, 1996, and which was used in his arrest this year. Assistant USAttorney Madeleine Murphy told our reporters that Salem was being chargedwith, "The largest case of food stamp fraud in Chicago history."Murphy said the Salem gang in Chicago were all Arabs and consisted of hiswife, six other relatives and one unrelated associate.
Other US officials say Salem's case is part of a much larger picture."This is not an isolated incident," says Robert Pledgler, assistantspecial agent in charge of the Chicago office of the Internal Revenue Service.Pledgler adds that the defendants "represent a group of criminals whoopen small neighborhood stores that aren't in the food business at all,but operate with one goal in mind. To defraud the federal food stamps programintended to feed the poor."
Stores controlled by Salem in the Chicago area allegedly redeemed asmuch as ten times more in food stamps than it claimed in sales. Officialsexplained that in some places food stamp holders can receive about $70 incash for every $100 worth of food stamps. Unscrupulous grocers can thenturn around and redeem the food stamps from the federal government at fullface value, realizing a 30 percent profit.
Murphy says that Salem's gang stole about $12.5 million. All of the moneyis missing, and Murphy says she has no idea whether Salem could have broughtsome of the money to Israel and the West Bank in his suitcase Sources toldour reporters that Salem left some money in Bethlehem for the constructionof a family home. The remaining millions are currently unaccounted for,and could end up in a Hamas charitable front.
The fact that Wail Salem decided to return to the US last February intriguesMurphy. It could be that he got word that Rambam was on to him followinghis inquiries with the Palestinian Authority. He must have felt the heat,because a date had already been scheduled for Amal Salem's lawsuit suingto force the insurance company to pay out the policy on Wail. Ironically,Amal and Wail Salem's arraignment for the food stamp fraud case ended upbeing scheduled for the same date, and the same time, but on a differentfloor of the Everett McKinley Dirkson Federal courthouse in Chicago.
Murphy told our reporters that Judge Koor, who was handling the insurancecase on the 14th floor, was heard remarking to a colleague, "I'd liketo go up to the 18th floor and see the dead guy being arraigned."
If, in fact Salem's gang was raising money for radical Islamic groups,he would not be the first Palestinian storekeeper to head a Hamas gang inChicago. Sources in the US and Israel speculate that Wail Salem may haveset up his operation to fill the void created by the arrest and convictionof Mohammad Salah in Israel in 1993.
Salah admitted to Israeli authorities that on orders of Abu Marzouk,he traveled to the West Bank in early 1993 to coordinate a terrorist attackagainst Israel. He was carrying a great deal of money estimated at severalhundred thousand dollars. Money he brought in was also used to buy weaponslater used in terrorist attacks, including an M-16 rifle used to murderan IDF soldier in Hebron. Until his arrest, Salah was a used-car salesmanand the owner of the Holy Land Bakery and Grocery on Chicago's north side.His Hamas partner Mohammad Jarad owned a grocery store in Chicago. LikeSalah and Jarad, Salem is also from Oak Lawn, a Chicago suburb widely knownto be a center of radical Islamic activities.
Israeli security officials are well aware of Hamas efforts to funnelmoney into the hands of terrorists via front groups disguised as charitableorganizations. This led to the decision last year to shut down the HolyLand Foundation in Israel, which received millions of dollars in donationsraised primarily in the United States by the American branch of the HolyLand Foundation, based in Texas.
In May 1997 Israeli security forces raided the Holy Land offices locatedin an Israeli controlled area outside Ramallah. Officials seized documentslinking the group to its US counterpart. Anti-terrorism official Sammy Mutzafitold our reporters, "If Salem is indeed affiliated with Hamas, thestolen money could have disappeared into one of several Palestinian Islamic'charities' in the US. Mutzafi admits that it is very difficult to provewhich money is then used for charitable purposes and which money goes tofund terrorism.
The US government is convinced that beyond its fundraising activities,Hamas uses fraud in the United States to fund the activities of its terroristwing. Speaking recently to the Senate Judiciary committee on Terrorism,Richard Rhode, the Secret Service Deputy Assistant Director for Investigationssaid that, "The ability of criminal enterprises to utilize the proceedsof fraud schemes to further other crimes can not be underestimated."According to Rhode, "white collar terrorism" is being committedto fund other illicit activities. The Secret Service investigator says theMiddle East terrorist groups are also engaged in counterfeit dollars, creditcard and coupon fraud as well as illegal cloning of cellular phone numbers.
Undoubtedly, one of the most productive criminal conspiracies organizedby supporters of radical Arab groups is the distribution of Iranian-madecounterfeit US $100 bills. These counterfeit bills are so undetectable thatthe US Secret Service has branded them 'Superbills.' Experts say that superbillsare often sold by Hamas supporters and associates through the use of organizedcriminal groups. Working undercover in the role of a supposed US Mafia 'associate,'late last year Rambam met with a number of Hamas supporters outside of Israelin the US. Working with an American TV crew, they were able to view andsecretly videotape or audiotape discussions on the counterfeiting activities.An American TV producer who worked with Rambam and US law enforcement officialsprovided a copy of a videotaped meeting for our reporters to view. The produceralso confirmed that both the Secret Service and Scotland Yard confirmedthe Hamas affiliation of Rambam's contacts.
Financial institutions estimate losses from Middle Eastern frauds inthe tens of millions of dollars annually. Financial institutions estimatelosses from Middle Eastern frauds in the tens of millions of dollars annually.American private investigator Ben Jacobson claims that Islamic terroristsraised an estimated $150 million in assorted food coupon schemes last yearalone. Hired by A.C. Nielson, the largest consumer coupon clearing housein the US Jacobson said, "Fraud schemes are continuing unabated, unchallengedand facilitated by computers and the Internet. Palestinian merchants inthe US are among the biggest culprits, redeeming coupons for products neverpurchased, then sending $100 million in cash to the Middle East."
Law enforcement sources in the US and Israel estimate that the combinedincome from criminal activity and frauds in North America may net radicalIslamic groups affiliated with Hamas more than half a billion dollars annually,possibly representing the majority share of the Hamas budget.
"Personally, I have no doubt that there is a straight line betweencriminal activity in the US and Canada and suicide bombings in Israel,"says Rambam. Israeli officials agree, pointing out that the families ofHamas suicide bombers receive financial support, including lifetime medicalcare and educational tuition for everyone in the suicide bomber's family,all paid by Islamic 'charities' known to be affiliated with Hamas.
But knowing about the crimes and being able to do something about itare not always the same thing. Even though ten Palestinian groups were placedon the US list of banned terrorist organizations, until last month's operationagainst Salah in Chicago, no money had been seized from any of them. TheFBI says that catching the crooks in these cases is both difficult and time-consuming.Oliver "Buck" Revell, the former chief of counter-terrorism forthe FBI is less optimistic. "The Palestinian movement has a tremendousinfrastructure in the Unites States and enjoys unparalleled freedom to raisefunds and recruit members. They operate through structures that sound humanitarian.One of the primary purposes of these groups is to launder money and getit into channels where they can support their organizations overseas."
Philip Wilcox, counter-terrorism expert for the State Department admits,"It's a big concern for us. Money that is collected for charitablepurposes is diverted for military and terrorist activities." Tracingthe money is the biggest problem. In recent years federal agencies haveimproved their ability to track some funds, but banking secrecy laws, andthe complexity and volume of the transactions makes it difficult, indeed.What is known is that until 1994, the biggest "contributions"were funneled to terrorist cells in the territories by Moussa Abu Marzouk.
Following his arrest in 1995, Marzouk, a one-time Virginia-based Palestinian,was deported last year from the US to Amman, Jordan where he now operatedopenly as a Hamas leader. Salem has spent most of the past two years livingin Amman. If he is indeed a money raiser for Hamas, Salem and Marzouk wouldhave had ample opportunity to figure out ways to move stolen millions raisedby Salem to Hamas.
Rambam says, "Based on the federal indictment, Salem is clearlya thief and a fraud with an organization behind him, but there is no absoluteproof tying him to Hamas. There is no smoking gun and no Hamas ID card.But certainly, Salem fits the profile of what Hamas fund-raisers do."
An American source close to the case told the Post, "The fact thatSalem was able to get these official PA documents, with all the correctseals and stamps, indicates that this was probably not some low-level scam."And when Rambam spoke with Palestinian security agents in Ramallah, theydid not have to check any files. They did not have to look for the information.They knew that Salem was alive and in Amman. They knew exactly who he was.