Chicago: US sleuths probing the operations
of an immigration business run by Pakistani-Canadian LeT
operative Tahawwur Hussain Rana feel that allowing the firm to
continue to function will help monitor its clients for
"possible terrorist ties".
49-year-old Rana's immigration consultancy firm First
World Immigration, located in the Indian-Pakistani street
Devon Avenue here, is being probed for possible acts of
immigration fraud as part of wider investigation into an
international terror plot against India and Denmark.
"Despite the firm's alleged ties to terror, there is
value in allowing First World Immigration to continue doing
business as normal since it made it easier for the FBI to
monitor its clients for possible terrorist ties. If you shut
it down, those people are lost to the wind," NBC Chicago
quoted a senior law-enforcement official as saying.
It said the case against the businessman based in Chicago
is especially troubling because it is a rare example of how a
seemingly legitimate American business. In this case, Rana's
visa-processing firm may have been used as a front for an
overseas terrorist network that targets Americans.
The FBI has said Rana's accomplice David Coleman Headley,
charged with criminal conspiracy in the Mumbai attacks, used
the immigration firm as cover for his travels to India and
Denmark as he scouted for terror targets.
Rana is under investigation for links to the Mumbai
strikes that killed 166 people. His First World has offices in
Chicago, New York and Toronto.
Federal authorities are working to determine the
immigration status of people who entered the US with the help
of First World to ensure they do not pose any threat.
As part of a widening probe into the international terror
plot, US authorities are also sharpening their sights on the
firm in search of possible acts of immigration fraud.
However, Rana's lawyer Patrick Blegen has said in a new
motion filed in a Chicago court that as a result of FBI raids
on Rana's businesses and his detention, his businesses have
effectively been shut down and are worth nowhere near what
they were previously estimated.
According to court filings, Rana allegedly conspired to
bring foreigners to the US under false pretences.
In e-mail conversations, Rana advised an alleged member
of Lashkar-e-Toiba about "loopholes" to get individuals into
the US.
"Whenever you find easy way to come to US, immediately
think there is a catch to it," Rana allegedly wrote in an
e-mail, warning against using student visas.
In another message, Rana allegedly suggested that one
individual be brought in under a false occupation. "Make him a
cook," the e-mail said.
PTI
First Published: Sunday, January 10, 2010, 13:04