A Dearborn man pleaded guilty Thursday to illegally sending $398,700 to Yemen. The case was part of a government crackdown on the unlicensed flow of money to the Middle East. Under a plea agreement, David Nassar Ali, 41, will face no more than 18 months in prison for sending money abroad in 2002 on behalf of relatives and Yemeni auto workers living in Dearborn. If he helps the government in similar cases, he faces no more than six months behind bars. He will be sentenced Feb. 12 by U.S. District Judge Denise Page Hood. Ali, 41, part-owner of a Dearborn gas station, also agreed to forfeit $19,300 seized by the government. A Dearborn lawyer for Ali, Morris Goodman, said his client was cooperating. "There is no hint of terrorism here," Goodman said. "All of the money was transmitted through Bank of America, so it isn't like he was trying to hide something." Bruno Genrich, a squad supervisor with the Bureau of Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Detroit, said, "We never wanted to go after Mom and Pop sending $100 back home."
| "... but almost 400 grand was a little much..." |
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