New York, Aug 21: Manhattan diamond dealer Yehuda Abraham, who is charged with money laundering in connection with the missile smuggling case, has been released after posting a ten million dollar bail. Abraham, 76, has been charged with accepting a down payment of 30,000 dollars on behalf of British arms dealer and main accused in the case, Hemant Lakhani, and possibly sending it overseas.
Lakhani and an Indian citizen Moinuddeen Ahmed Ameed, also charged with money laundering, are being held without bail. Lakhani was accused of trying to smuggle a shoulder fired Russian surface to air missile into the United States with the purpose of selling it to terrorists knowing that that they plan to use it to bring down a commercial airliners.
He has been charged with providing material support to terrorists and selling arms without license. The prosecutors allege that he had contacted Russians for purchasing a missile after American agents posing as Islamic terrorists showed interest in buying it. But his Russian contact, who posed as a disgruntled military officer, was in fact an intelligence agent.
The missile sold to Lakhani was fake and when it arrived in the United States, the federal agents moved on him and arrested him. Bureau Report