<http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hizballahs_penetration_of_the.php> Hizballah's Penetration of the FBI, CIA
Today, November 13, 2007, 4 hours ago | Steven Emerson <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hizballahs_penetration_of_the.php> Go to full article http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hizballahs_penetration_of_the.php As noted <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/prouty_case_shows_citizenship.php> by Michael Cutler, the sister-in-law of Hizballah-linked fugitive Talal Chahine pled guilty today to fraudulently obtaining her citizenship, using her illegally acquired status to attain employment with both the FBI and CIA, and illegally using government computers to gather Hizballah-related intelligence. Nadia Nadim Prouty, aka Nadia Nadim Al Aouar, came to the U.S. in 1990 on a non-immigrant visa, overstayed her visa and entered into a fraudulent marriage in Michigan to a U.S. citizen. Prouty submitted a series of fraudulent affidavits, notably from her sister Elfat Al Aouar and her husband, Talal Chahine, attesting to the validity of Prouty's marriage. According to the federal government, "As planned, [Prouty] never lived as husband and wife with her fraudulent 'husband' and the marriage was never consummated sexually." But Prouty did use her newly gained citizenship to get a job as a Special Agent with the FBI, which requires U.S. citizenship for employment, in 1999. Prouty was given a security clearance and tasked to the FBI's Washington Field Office. According to prosecutors in the Eastern District of Michigan, Prouty used FBI computers - absent authorization - to run searches on herself, her sister and her brother in law, Elfat Al Aouar and Talal Chahine, owners of the popular Michigan-based restaurant chain, La Shish. In May 2006, Chahine and Al Aouar were charged with <http://detroit.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel06/de051806a.htm> tax evasion, with some of the proceeds allegedly funneled to Hizballah. As part of that case, the government asserted, in a written <http://www.investigativeproject.org/documents/case_docs/257.pdf> proffer that Chahine and his wife attended a fundraising event in Lebanon in August 2002 with Hizballah <http://www.fas.org/irp/threat/t11ter.pdf> Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah, a Specially Designated Terrorist (see page 8), where the two men were the keynote speakers. The proffer also claims that a search of El Aouar's residence turned up a "thank you letter" for sponsoring 40 "orphans," as well as images of Chahine and his family in front of a Hizballah outpost. According to the proffer: "[t]he government is aware that the sponsorship of orphans is a euphemism used by Hizballah to refer to the orphans of martyrs. This is a common public relations and recruitment tool used by Hizballah. Hizballah gains favor with the public in Lebanon by supporting 'orphans,' while at the same time recruiting others into the terrorist organization willing to sacrifice their lives in terrorist operations based in part on the promise that Hizballah will take care of their families." As I wrote last year, Chahine is also connected to the <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/07/almabarrat_a_hezbollah_charita.php> Hizballah-linked charity al-Mabarrat, founded by Sheikh Fadlallah, still operating out of Dearborn, Michigan. In 2003, Prouty resigned her position with the FBI and began working for the CIA - where U.S. citizenship is also a prerequisite for employment. Prouty is facing over 15 years in prison and $600,000 in fines for her crimes. <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hizballah_mole_case_reflects_d.php> Hizballah Mole Case Reflects Depth of Threat Today, November 13, 2007, 5 hours ago | Bill West <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hizballah_mole_case_reflects_d.php> Go to full article http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/hizballah_mole_case_reflects_d.php The emerging prosecution case against the former FBI and CIA officer in Detroit who has just pleaded guilty to various Federal felonies stemming from her apparent fraudulent infiltration of those agencies demonstrates the threat posed by operatives and sympathizers of terrorist organizations penetrating the front-line national security departments defending America from those very terror organizations. This is nothing new. This is the way skilled hostile intelligence organizations conduct espionage during wartime. This particular case, disturbingly, may be indicative of the level of sophistication Hizballah's intelligence apparatus, surely with the assistance of the Iranian government, has reached. Equally disturbing is how the accused defendant employed, with apparent ease, immigration fraud to remain in the United States after first entering on a temporary student visa (and how many hundreds of thousands of others like her from terrorist producing countries have similarly entered the US in recent years?). She then engaged in a sham marriage to obtain permanent resident status and ultimately obtained naturalized US citizenship via fraud. Having obtained US citizenship, she applied to the FBI and became an agent and later transferred to the CIA. A more potentially damaging security scenario would be hard to imagine. While the Federal law enforcement authorities who brought this case to fruition should be commended, there are apparent systemic problems presented by this case. The background investigation process for such positions, one might have assumed, should have identified her original illegal immigration status. Was that even a "red flag" in the security process? Original illegal immigration status, followed by resident status via marriage and quick divorce, facts identified in the case press release, are indicators of fraud. Should those factors not have been considered during the vetting for a Top Secret clearance? If not, why not? These, perhaps, are questions for further inquiry; perhaps by Congressional oversight authorities. Unfortunately, terrorists and their supporters fraudulently acquiring US citizenship and otherwise engaging in immigration fraud in support of their nefarious actions, to include the infiltration of US Government agencies, is something not limited to this case. Read more about such matters <http://www.frontpagemag.com/Articles/Read.aspx?GUID=1051372B-979F-480D-8171 -8F290EEF18CE> here, here <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/01/cleveland_imam_linked_to_pij_i.php> , here <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/10/terrorists_traitors_and_citize.php> and here <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2006/04/immigration_reform_benefits_fa.php> . <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/prouty_case_shows_citizenship.php> Prouty Case Shows Citizenship the "Keys to the Kingdom" Today, November 13, 2007, 8 hours ago | Michael Cutler <http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/prouty_case_shows_citizenship.php> Go to full article http://counterterrorismblog.org/2007/11/prouty_case_shows_citizenship.php I do not know how many times I have made the point that United States citizenship represents the "Keys to the Kingdom." United States citizenship opens all sorts of doors to those who do not wish to share the "American Dream" but rather create a nightmare for our nation and our citizens. United States citizenship enables the alien who acquires United States citizenship to be able to work at any job he or she is qualified to do. It enables the person in question to be given security clearances that provide access to highly sensitive intelligence and enables such individuals to embed themselves in our nation and hide in plain sight among us. Time and time again, we have seen how terrorists and spies have gamed the immigration system to acquire legitimate immigration status and even United States citizenship in furtherance of their nefarious objectives. This Justice <http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/November/07_nsd_910.html> Department press release chronicles the most recent example of how Nada Nadim Prouty, an individual linked to a terrorist organization, managed to become a resident alien based on her marriage to a United States citizen and then, ultimately naturalize. This made her eligible to hold a high security clearance and use that access to intelligence and information against our nation. I find it a bit ironic that, as I have often noted in public appearances including when I have testified before Congressional hearings that as someone once noted, "An effective spy is someone who would not attract the attention of a waiter or waitress at a greasy spoon diner." I have gone on to say that in point of fact, the same could be said of an effective terrorist and, indeed, it might well be that the waiter or waitress in such an establishment might be, in fact, a spy or terrorists. You will note in the highlighted sections of the DOJ <http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/November/07_nsd_910.html> press release that the defendant and terrorist in this article, Nada Nadim Prouty, a naturalized citizen from Lebanon was, in fact, identified as being a waitress who was, in reality, affiliated with Hezbollah, a known terrorist organization. This is why it is patently absurd to think that as the President and other open borders advocates have continually said that if we allowed those aliens into our country who simply want to work and do the jobs "Americans won't do," we will be safer because then law enforcement and the intelligence community can focus on the terrorists who seek to enter our country to do us harm. Here is a startling clear example of a terrorist who apparently wanted to do nothing more serious than get a job. She was facilitated in her quest to embed herself in our country by a division of DHS, United States Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) in providing her with United States citizenship even though she had committed naturalization fraud. Last year, you may recall, Senators Chuck Grassley and Sue Collins commissioned an investigation into allegations that USCIS claims to have "lost" 111,000 alien immigration files of aliens seeking a wide variety of immigration benefits including some 30,000 such aliens who were naturalized without their relating files! You can access this <http://grassley.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Detail &PressRelease_id=6a0ab105-2d8f-4938-bc0d-f8323de205a8&Month=11&Year=2006> press release issued by Senator Grassley concerning this critical issue and the GAO report findings. You can also access a <http://www.senate.gov/~govt-aff/index.cfm?FuseAction=PressReleases.Print&Pr essRelease_id=1375&suppresslayouts=true> press release issued by Senator Sue Collins on this matter. Additionally, on March 10, 2006, Representative James F. Sensenbrenner, the then-chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, issued a <http://judiciary.house.gov/media/pdfs/gaoimmbenefitsrelease31006.pdf> press release concerning a GAO report that was issued on the day of his press release into the national security implications of immigration benefit fraud. What we need to know is what is being done to create a system that possesses true integrity where the granting of immigration benefits is concerned. In point of fact, little is done to ferret out the fraud in the immigration benefits program. This must change. Immigration is not simply about building a fence on the border or even going after employers who knowingly employ easy to exploit illegal aliens. For immigration enforcement to be truly effective our government must also create an immigration benefits program that possesses meaningful integrity that identifies those who commit fraud to deter future such criminal violations. This would require that ICE employ many thousands of additional special agents who conduct effective proactive investigations into immigration benefit fraud. To ignore this critical component of immigration is to leave the door open to this sort of situation _____ Department of Justice Seal <http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/sealdoj.gif> Department of Justice <http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/doj.gif> _____ FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2007 http://www.usdoj.gov/opa/pr/2007/November/07_nsd_910.html <http://www.usdoj.gov/> NSD (202) 514-2007 TDD (202) 514-1888 Former Employee of CIA and FBI Pleads Guilty to Conspiracy, Unauthorized Computer Access and Naturalization Fraud DETROIT - Nada Nadim Prouty, a 37-year-old Lebanese national and resident of Vienna, Va., pleaded guilty today in the Eastern District of Michigan to charges of fraudulently obtaining U.S. citizenship, which she later used to gain employment at the FBI and CIA; accessing a federal computer system to unlawfully query information about her relatives and the terrorist organization Hizballah; and conspiracy to defraud the United States. The announcement was made today by Stephen J. Murphy, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Michigan; Kenneth L. Wainstein, Assistant Attorney General for National Security; Willie T. Hulon, Executive Assistant Director of the FBI's National Security Branch; Brian M. Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge of the Detroit Office of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE); and Kurt Rice, Chicago Field Office Special Agent in Charge for the U.S. State Department's Diplomatic Security Service. At a hearing in Detroit before the U.S. District Court Judge Avern Cohn, Prouty entered a plea of guilty to counts one, two and three of a second superseding information. Count one of the information charges conspiracy, for which the maximum penalty is five years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. Count two charges unauthorized computer access, for which the maximum penalty is one year imprisonment and a $100,000 fine. Count three charges naturalization fraud, for which the maximum penalty is 10 years imprisonment and a $250,000 fine, and requires the court to de-naturalize the defendant. "This case highlights the importance of conducting stringent and thorough background investigations," said U.S. Attorney Stephen J. Murphy. "It's hard to imagine a greater threat than the situation where a foreign national uses fraud to attain citizenship and then, based on that fraud insinuates herself into a sensitive position in the U.S. government. I applaud the excellent investigative work of the FBI, ICE and DHS, which led to the successful prosecution today." "It is a sad day when one of our public servants breaches our security and trust," said Assistant Attorney General Kenneth L. Wainstein. "This defendant engaged in a pattern of deceit to secure U.S. citizenship, to gain employment in the intelligence community, and to obtain and exploit her access to sensitive counterterrorism intelligence. It is fitting that she now stands to lose both her citizenship and her liberty." "We became aware of this compromise in December 2005 and moved to address any further damage,"said Willie T. Hulon, Executive Assistant Director of the FBI's National Security Branch. "The FBI worked closely with other agencies to investigate this matter. We continue to evaluate our security practices and will make any necessary changes." "Nada Proudy's guilty plea should serve as a solemn warning to those who say they've pledged their allegiance to the United States and then make the conscious decision to place America's interests at risk," said Brian M. Moskowitz, Special Agent in Charge of the ICE Office of Investigations in Detroit. "Becoming a naturalized U.S. citizen is an honor and a privilege. ICE will do everything in its power to see that those who achieve this honor by fraud and deception are brought to justice." Naturalization Fraud According to documents filed in court by the government, Prouty first entered the United States from Lebanon on June 24, 1989, on a one-year, non-immigrant student visa. After her visa expired, she remained in the country, residing in Taylor, Mich., with her sister, Elfat El Aouar, and an individual named Samar Khalil Nabbouth. In order to remain in the United States and evade U.S. immigration laws, Prouty later offered money to an unemployed U.S. citizen to marry her. On August 9, 1990, Prouty married the U.S. citizen. As planned, Prouty never lived with her fraudulent "husband," but continued to live with her sister and Nabbouth. Prouty later submitted a series of false, fraudulent and forged documents and letters to federal immigration officials to verify the validity of the fraudulent marriage in order to obtain permanent residency status, and, later, U.S. citizenship, thereby committing naturalization fraud. On Aug. 5, 1994, the former Immigration and Naturalization Service granted Prouty U.S. citizenship under the name "Nada Nadim Deladurantaye." The following year, she filed for a divorce from her fraudulent husband, and later obtained a U.S. passport, which she used to travel overseas. Talal Khalil Chahine According to court documents, from May 1992 through April 1993, and again, from August through November 1994, Prouty was employed as a waitress and hostess at La Shish Inc., a chain of Middle Eastern restaurants in Detroit that was owned by Talal Khalil Chahine. During this time, Chahine wrote a letter for submission into Prouty's immigration file attesting to the validity of Prouty's false marriage. Chahine is currently a fugitive believed to be in Lebanon. He, along with Prouty's sister, Elfat El Aouar, and others were charged in 2006 in the Eastern District of Michigan with tax evasion in connection with a scheme to conceal more than $20 million in cash received by La Shish restaurants and to route funds to persons in Lebanon. Last month, Chahine was also charged in the Eastern District of Michigan, along with a senior ICE official in Detroit and others in a bribery and extortion conspiracy in which federal immigration benefits were allegedly awarded to illegal aliens in exchange for money. Employment at FBI and CIA In April 1999, through a series of false representations and use of her fraudulently procured proof of U.S. citizenship, Prouty, then known as "Nada Nadim Alley," obtained employment as a special agent of the FBI. It was a prerequisite to FBI employment that she be a U.S. citizen. As a special agent with the FBI, Prouty was granted a security clearance and assigned to the FBI's Washington Field Office to work on an extraterritorial squad investigating crimes against U.S. persons overseas. During her tenure with the FBI, Prouty was not assigned to work on investigations involving the international terrorist group Hizballah. In August 2000, Prouty's sister, Elfat El Aouar, entered into a marriage with Talal Khalil Chahine, the owner of La Shish Inc. In September 2000, Prouty, while employed as an FBI special agent, used the FBI's computerized Automated Case System (ACS), without authorization, to query her own name, her sister's name, and that of her brother-in-law, Talal Khalil Chahine. In addition, on or about June 4, 2003, Prouty accessed the FBI's ACS and obtained information from a national security investigation into Hizballah that was being conducted by the FBI's Detroit Field Office. According to court documents, in August 2002, Prouty's sister, Elfat El Aouar, and her brother-in-law, Talal Khalil Chahine, attended a fundraising event in Lebanon where the keynote speakers were Chahine himself and Sheikh Muhammad Hussein Fadlallah. Sheikh Fadlallah had previously been designated by the U.S. government as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist based upon his status as a leading ideological figure with Hizballah. In June 2003, through a series of false representations and use of her fraudulently procured proof of U.S. citizenship, Prouty, then known as "Nada Nadim Prouty," voluntarily left her position with the FBI and obtained employment with the CIA. It was also a prerequisite to CIA employment that she be a U.S. citizen. On Nov. 6, 2007, Prouty resigned her position at the CIA. Pursuant to the terms of her plea agreement, she has agreed to fully and truthfully cooperate with the CIA on any matters the CIA deems necessary to transition Prouty out of its employment in a manner consistent with safeguarding the national security of the United States. This cooperation includes participation in debriefing and polygraph interviews. The ongoing investigation into this matter is being conducted by the FBI and ICE, with assistance from the U.S. Department of State, Diplomatic Security Service, and the Internal Revenue Service. The case is being prosecuted by Eric M. Straus, Chief of the National Security Unit, and Kenneth R. Chadwell, Assistant U.S. Attorney, from the U.S. Attorney's office for the Eastern District of Michigan, as well as Mark J. 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