Three men plead guilty to concealing sending money to Anwar Al-Awlaki

Three men pleaded guilty to their roles in concealing the provision of thousands of dollars to Anwar Al-Awlaki in an effort to support violent jihad against U.S. military personnel in Iraq, Afghanistan and throughout the world.

The guilty pleas were announced by Assistant Attorney General for National Security John C. Demers, U.S. Attorney Justin E. Herdman of the Northern District of Ohio and Special Agent in Charge Stephen D. Anthony of the FBI’s Cleveland Division.
Ibrahim Zubair Mohammad, 38; Asif Ahmed Salim, 37; and Sultane Room Salim, 43, each pleaded guilty this week to one count of concealment of financing of terrorism. They are expected to be sentenced later this year.

“These defendants provided thousands of dollars to finance terrorism, then used every effort to conceal their activity from law enforcement,” U.S. Attorney Herdman said. “This case demonstrates that we will work around the clock and across the globe to ensure that anyone who seeks to do our nation harm, whether on the battlefield or through the banking system, will be held accountable.”


 “These three individuals have now accepted responsibility for taking steps to conceal that they gave funds to a known terrorist,” said Special Agent in Charge Anthony.  “The identification of the provision of these funds to a dangerous terrorist and the subsequent investigation demonstrates how members of the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force worked with our international law enforcement partners to mitigate threats in order to protect our citizens.”  

A fourth defendant, Yahya Farooq Mohammad, pleaded guilty last year to one count of conspiracy to provide and conceal material support or resources to terrorists and one count of solicitation to commit a crime of violence. Farooq Mohammed admitted to conspiring to travel to Yemen to provide thousands of dollars, equipment, and other assistance to Al-Awlaki. He also admitted to soliciting an undercover FBI employee posing as a hitman to kidnap and murder U.S. District Judge Jack Zouhary. He was sentenced to 27 ½ years in prison last year.

Ibrahim Mohammad, was an Indian citizen who studied engineering at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign from 2001 through 2005.  In or around 2006, he moved to Toledo, Ohio, and married a U.S. citizen.  He became a lawful permanent resident of the United States in or around 2007.

Asif Salim was a U.S. citizen who studied at Ohio State University between 2000 and 2005.  He became a resident of Overland Park, Kansas, in 2007.  His brother, Sultane Salim, is also a U.S. citizen who resided in the Chicago area from 2006 through 2012, until he moved to the Columbus area, according to court documents.

The three defendants who pleaded guilty this week acted to conceal supplying funds to Anwar Al-Awlaki in 2009.  Al-Awlaki, a key leader of Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, advocated violence against the United States and supported and was involved in attempted terrorist attacks against civilians, according to court documents. 

Farooq Mohammad travelled with two other people to Yemen in 2009 to meet Awlaki.  They were unable to meet with Awlaki, so instead travelled to Sana’a, Yemen, to meet with one of his associates.  Farooq Mohammad and his two fellow travelers gave the associate approximately $22,000 to be given to Awlaki, according to court documents.  The money Farooq Mohammad provided included approximately $17,000 that had been provided by Asif and Sultane Salim in the United States.  Ibrahim Mohammad facilitated the transfer of the money to Farooq Mohammad overseas for him to take to Awlaki in Yemen. 
After law enforcement began investigating the financial transactions involved in the funds provided to Awlaki, Ibrahim Mohammad, Asif Salim, and Sultane Salim attempted to conceal the source of the funds provided to Awlaki by lying to investigators and deleting emails from their accounts that were related to the transactions.

The case is being investigated by the FBI.  This case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Matthew W. Shepherd and Michael J. Freeman of the Northern District of Ohio, and Trial Attorneys David Smith and Gregory Gonzalez of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.