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In re Terrorist Attacks on September 11, 2001, 392 F.Supp.2d 539 (2005) 10 A.L.R. Fed. 2d 789 411 Taha Al-Awani, Muhammad Ashraf, M. Omar Ashraf, M. Yaqub Mirza, and Iqbal Unus are SAAR Network executives who are mentioned once in the Federal complaint in a long list of Defendants who allegedly “have aided and abetted, conspired with, and provided material support and resources to, defendant al Qaida and/or affiliated FTOs, associations, organizations or persons, as described herein.” (Federal Compl. J 66.) The complaint does not include any other allegations against these Defendants. The Federal complaint alleges that Jamal Barzinji, another SAAR Network executive who moves to dismiss the complaint, is a Saudi national who, “through his various for-profit enterprises and involvement with charities and individuals operating within al Qaida’s infrastructure, has long provided material support and resources to al Qaida.” (federal Compl. J 490-91.) Barzinjit has served as a board member of, or been associated with, several SAAR Network entities, including IIT, WAMY, Safa Trust, Mar—Jac Poultry, and SAAR Foundation. Jd. ¥ 490 (claiming that while he was the President of Safa Trust, he “held authority over eighteen bank accounts”). He is a business associate of the designated terrorist Yousef Nada. (/d.) According to unnamed federal authorities, Barzinji “committed and conspired to: transit money internationally for the purpose of promoting offenses against foreign nations involving murder or the destruction of property by means of explosive, fire, kidnapping or extortion ...; provide material support or resources to foreign terrorist organizations ...; and provide material support or conceal or disguise the source of ownership of material support *372 intended for use in preparation for or in carrying out a terrorist act.” (/d.) The RICO statement provides additional associations between each of these SAAR Network executives and the SAAR Network. (See Federal RICO Statement Applicable to the SAAR Network Executives at Ex. A (alleging in their roles as executives of SAAR Network entities, each of these Defendants committed multiple acts of conspiracy to commit multiple crimes).) Specifically, Taha Al—Alwani was President of INIT and an officer of Heritage Education Trust; Muhammad Ashraf was an officer and/or director of Sterling Investment Group, Sterling Charitable Gift Fund, and York Foundation; M. Omar Ashraf was an officer and/or director of Grove Corporate Plaza, Mar—Jac Investments, and Sterling Charitable Gift Fund; Yaqub Mirza served as an officer and/or director of African Muslim Agency, Mar—Jac Investments, Mar—Jac Poultry, Reston Investments, SAAR Foundation, Safa Trust, where he was the principal signatory on Safa Group checks, and York International; WESTLAW Iqbal Yunus was a director of Child Development Foundation, a SAAR Network entity, and was associated with Sterling Charitable Gift Fund, and Sterling Management Group; finally, Jamal Barzinji was president of Safa Trust and a director of Mar—Jac Poultry, Reston Investments, IIIT, and Safa Trust. (/d. at 5(f) and Ex. A.) The complaint does not state a claim for relief against Taha Al-Awani, Muhammad Ashraf, M. Omar Ashraf, M. Yaqub Mirza, or Iqbal Unus on a civil RICO theory or under the ATA. Reading the complaint as a whole and considering the overlap of executives among the SAAR Network entities, the complaint does not adequately provide these Defendants with notice as to how they provided material support to al Qaeda terrorists. See Boim IT, 291 F.3d at 1023 (explaining a claim under the ATA must include allegation that defendant knew about terrorists’ illegal activities, defendant wanted to help those activities succeed, and defendant engaged in an act of helping). The Federal complaint against Taha Al-Awani, Muhammad Ashraf, M. Omar Ashraf, M. Yaqub Mirza, and Iqbal Unus is dismissed without prejudice. 421 43] Jamal Barzinji controlled several bank accounts. (Federal Compl. J 490.) He has allegedly transmitted money internationally for terrorist purposes. (/d.) He allegedly made these transfers to support al Qaeda. (/d. at qj 490-91.) The Federal Plaintiffs do not allege that Mr. Barzinji participated in the operation or management of their claimed RICO enterprise, and the RICO claim against him is dismissed. Reves, 507 U.S. at 179, 113 S.Ct. 1163. But Mr. Barzinji does have sufficient notice of the claims against him regarding his alleged provision of material support in the form of financial transactions to al Qaeda. See 18 U.S.C. § 2339(A) (including provision of “currency or other financial securities [and] financial services” in definition of material support) Accordingly, his motion to dismiss the federal complaint is denied. IV. NCB’s Motion for Reconsideration In deciding NCB’s motions to dismiss the Ashton and Burnett complaints, the Court ruled that NCB’s status as a foreign sovereign for purposes of immunity under the FSIA was unclear. It also questioned whether it had personal jurisdiction over NCB. The Court ordered limited jurisdictional discovery on both issues. Terrorist Attacks I, 349 F.Supp.2d at 792, 820. In light of the possible lack of subject matter and personal jurisdiction, the Court refrained from deciding NCB’s motion to dismiss for failure to state a clatm. NCB *573 moves for HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017930

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Filename HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_017930.jpg
File Size 0.0 KB
OCR Confidence 85.0%
Has Readable Text Yes
Text Length 5,405 characters
Indexed 2026-02-04T16:33:34.132003