Casino Watch-Terrorists at Casinos

	=20 Terrorists

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Terrorists at Casinos

Hijackers' Tracks in Las Vegas
Gambling Strip = Combed for=20 Evidence of Several Terrorists
LAS VEGAS -- Additional FBI = agents=20 are being brought to this city to chase down hundreds of leads and = track=20 the movements of terrorists who repeatedly visited here in the = months=20 before the Sept. 11 attacks. Mohamed Atta, a suspected = ringleader of=20 the terrorist attack that left more than 5,000 people dead, made = at least=20 two trips here. In addition to Atta, authorities also = believe that=20 Marwan Al-Shehhi, Nawaf Alhazmi, Hani Hanjour and Ziad Samir = Jarrah also=20 visited the city. All five men were killed in the attacks in New = York and=20 Washington.
By William Booth   Washington Post = Staff=20 Writer 9/14/01

Terrorists had no apparent = reason to=20 visit Las Vegas ...
So why did they?
On June 28 at = Boston=D5s=20 Logan Airport, Mohamed Atta boarded a United Airlines flight and = flew=20 first class nonstop to San Francisco, where he bypassed the = bohemian North=20 Beach district and didn=D5t take the cruise to Alcatraz. = Instead, Atta=20 took the first of two side trips to Las Vegas.
On Aug. 10, Hani = Hanjour=20 and Nawaf Alhazmi used first-class tickets for a United flight = from Dulles=20 Airport near Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles International = Airport, then=20 on to Las Vegas. Las Vegas FBI Special Agent in Charge Grant = Ashley=20 candidly admitted that the whole story of the terrorists=D5 Las = Vegas=20 connection may never be known. Authorities on the = hijackers=D5=20 sponsor, Osama bin Laden, note that counterfeiting has been one of = the=20 al-Qaida terrorist network's signatures. Were the hijackers = passing=20 off funny money? Spies and arms dealers have made this a = second home=20 for more than a generation.
11/4/01 Las Vegas=20 Review-Journal COLUMN: John L. Smith

SunCruz = Casinos=20 turns over documents in terrorist probe
TAMPA, Fla. - = SunCruz=20 Casinos has turned over photographs and other documents to FBI=20 investigators after employees said they recognized some of the men = suspected in the terrorist attacks as customers.
Michael = Hlavsa,=20 chairman of the gambling cruise company, said Wednesday two or = three men=20 linked to the Sept. 11 hijackings may have been customers on a = ship that=20 sailed from Madeira Beach on Florida's gulf coast.
9/26/01 = By VICKIE=20 CHACHERE Associated Press Writer and Florida=20 Times-Union

Terror suspects spent $100,000 in = casino=20 scam
Buffalo duo likely tried to launder cash
HAMILTON = =97 Two=20 members of an alleged Al Qaeda cell arrested in Buffalo last week = spent at=20 least $100,000 (U.S.) at Casino Niagara in what Ontario officials = suspect=20 were money-laundering attempts. Federal prosecutors in = Buffalo,=20 where the American-born suspects are in a bail hearing this week, = have=20 painted the men as wily members of an Al Qaeda "sleeper" cell, = based in=20 the suburb of Lackawanna. American anti-terrorism officials = allege=20 that some of the men seem to have secret sources of funds, the = type of=20 money needed to carry out acts of Al Qaeda terrorism on U.S. = soil. =20 "Terrorists will take full advantage of whatever means they can," = said=20 David Harris, an anti-terrorism consultant in Ottawa. "They know = the art=20 and science of laundering money. Casinos are just another avenue = for=20 that."
Thestar.com Toronto star  =20 9/20/02   By Joan = Walters

Treasury=20 Department to require casinos to report
suspicious=20 transactions
Casinos will have to file reports on = suspicious=20 financial transactions to the federal government as part of the = Bush=20 administration's effort to catch drug dealers, terrorists and = others=20 involved in money laundering. The rule announced Wednesday = by the=20 Treasury Department takes effect in six months and would apply to = casinos=20 located in the United States with gross annual revenues of more = than $1=20 million. Identifying suspicious transactions is a difficult = task for=20 several reasons, including "the fast-paced casino environment, = with lots=20 of games going on and lots of customers."
Money laundering = involves the=20 movement of profits from drug or arms trafficking, political = corruption,=20 prostitution and other illegal activities through a series of = accounts or=20 businesses to disguise them as proceeds of legitimate = business. =20 Treasury's General Counsel David Aufhauser said Wednesday's rules = and=20 proposals are aimed at snagging money launderers and terrorist=20 financiers.
JEANNINE AVERSA, 9/18/02 (WASHINGTON (AP)=20 customwire.ap.org/dynamic/fronts/ARCHIVE

Casinos = targeted in=20 hunt for illegal immigrants
Northern Nevada casinos, = with=20 their large numbers of foreign-born workers, have been the=20 targets of federal government searches for illegal = immigrants. =D2It=20 continues to be a fairly big problem,=D3 said Gregory White, an = agent in the=20 Reno office of the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization = Service.
In 1994,=20 immigration agents removed about 1,400 undocumented workers from = 46=20 northern Nevada casinos.
Don Cox RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL=20 3/2/02

Las Vegas, Reno could be terrorism=20 targets
Last week Las Vegas FBI chief Grant Ashley told = reporters=20 the FBI may never know what the hijackers were doing here. A = member=20 of the Nevada=D5s Homeland Security Committee said Wednesday in = Carson City=20 that he felt Las Vegas and Reno would be good targets for any type = of=20 terrorist attack because of the cities=D5 24-hour lifestyle. = "It makes=20 them more vulnerable," said Richard Brenner, fire protection = engineer of=20 Las Vegas' Clark County Fire Department. "We are both = 24-hour=20 cities. We really don't go to sleep."
Ray Hagar RENO=20 GAZETTE-JOURNAL 12/12/2001

The House Financial = Services=20 Committee on Thursday passed the Financial Anti-Terrorism Act, a = bill=20 containing language designed to quash Internet gambling. The = bill=20 states that "no person engaged in the business of betting or = wagering may=20 knowingly accept, in connection with the participation of another = person=20 in unlawful Internet gambling," such financial instruments as = checks,=20 credit cards or electronic fund transfers. Rep. James Leach, = R-Iowa,=20 called the effort against Internet gambling critical in the battle = against=20 terrorism. "Internet gambling (poses) the greatest potential for = money=20 laundering that exists in the world," Leach said. The bill = is=20 designed to crack down on money laundering efforts by terrorist=20 organizations.
10/12/02   By David Strow and = Benjamin Grove LAS VEGAS SUN

Another American = law=20 enforcement official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said = that=20 investigators also are probing the possibility that some of the=20 individuals sneaked into the United States by way of the Akwesasne = Mohawk=20 Reserve, which straddles the borders of Ontario, Quebec, and New = York=20 State. For years, the reserve has been a notorious smuggling = route,=20 serving as a conduit for illegal immigrants bound for the United = States=20 and for contraband goods, mainly cigarettes and alcohol, headed = for Canada=20 to avoid heavy US taxes. Indians with ties to biker gangs and = organized=20 crime typically serve as well-paid guides through the dense brush = and=20 across the waterways of the reserve.
By Colin Nickerson, = Globe=20 Staff, 1/3/2003   MONTREAL

Akwesasne = Mohawk=20 Casino www.mohawkcasino.com/

"A person could = launder money=20 at a land-based casino easier than online where you have a = complete paper=20 trail even for small amounts," said Wayne Townsend, a Yucca Valley = man who=20 writes Internet gambling software.
By Benjamin = Spillman The=20 Desert Sun = 10/12/02

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