Platts Conducts Investigation into Terrorist Financing

Coordinated Law Enforcement Efforts Have Prevented Further Terrorist Attacks

Tampa, Florida - When Saddam Hussein was captured in a hole in the ground in Iraq, he had $750,000 in American currency in his possession, illustrating the fact that money provides the lifeblood for acts of terror.

"We know that financial crime is the functional equivalent of a war industry for terrorists," Congressman Todd Platts (PA-19) said as he opened a recent hearing on terrorist financing.

A panel of the federal government's top financial crime experts faced tough questioning from Platts on their efforts to combat terrorist financing - particularly the push for international cooperation. A recent United Nations report said that only 83 of 191 countries have complied with UN resolutions to freeze bank accounts of known terrorist financiers.

"I think a UN Resolution should mean something. My citizens have a right to know which countries are not cooperating with us," Platts said to George Glass, Director of the State Department's Office for Economic Sanctions Policy. Glass agreed that international reforms are a cornerstone in the war on terrorist financing since two-thirds of the money funneled to terrorists comes from outside the United States.

In addition to the State Department, the hearing featured witnesses from the FBI, the United States Secret Service, the Department of the Treasury, and the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement. These officials detailed the federal government's efforts to coordinate investigations and effectively use technology to disrupt the flow of money to terrorists.

Platts, Chairman of the Subcommittee on Government Efficiency and Financial Management, traveled to Tampa, Florida on Monday, to co-chair a joint field hearing with Congressman Adam Putnam (FL-12). Putnam serves as Chairman of the Government Reform Committee's Subcommittee on Technology, Information Policy, Intergovernmental Affairs, and the Census.

Carl Whitehead, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI's Tampa Bureau, testified that at least six potentially deadly terrorist attacks were prevented by the coordinated efforts of law enforcement. "In this case, efficiency and effectiveness are not just 'good government' rhetoric - they have the potential to save lives by preventing future attacks," Platts said.

Coordination of law enforcement efforts is critical to success, Platts said, and the complexity of terrorist financing requires the involvement of more than 20 federal bureaus. Two recent reports from the General

Accounting Office described problems coordinating efforts among federal agencies, highlighted by the lack of a single database for tracking terrorist cases. Specifically, the GAO found that the FBI did not have a strategy for confronting the use of alternative money laundering schemes (trade in precious metals and gemstones, counterfeiting, smuggling, and tax evasion schemes) used by terrorist groups.

Witnesses testified that some of the GAO's concerns were addressed in a May 2003 agreement between the FBI and the Department of Homeland Security that designated FBI as the lead agency in all terrorist financing cases. The agreement was controversial in that it came as a surprise to Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents who had taken a lead role in money laundering cases. Some law enforcement experts said the move jeopardized ongoing investigations. Marcy Forman, the Director of ICE's Financial Investigations Division, said that the agreement was helpful because it clarified jurisdictional roles and provided uniform guidelines for investigations.

Tampa is home to a number of high-profile money laundering cases, beginning with the charges against the Bank of Credit and Commerce International in the early 1990s. The BCCI case established the global impacts of money laundering. Earlier this year, University of South Florida Professor, Sami Al-Arian, was indicted along with seven others on 50 counts including conspiracy to commit murder and material support of terrorism. Al-Arian and his co-conspirators used the University of South Florida and affiliated non-profit research foundations as the North American base of Palestinian Islamic Jihad, a designated terrorist entity.

As a follow-up to Monday's hearing, Platts is preparing additional written questions for the witnesses.