Omar Shishani, 47, of Dearborn, was arrested Wednesday night at Detroit Metro Airport after getting off a flight from Indonesia. Customs agents found the nine counterfeit cashier's checks during a search of his luggage. The checks supposedly were issued by a Pomona, Calif., branch of West America Bank. The bank doesn't have an office there. Two checks were issued for $500,000 each, two for $5 million each, and five for $200,000 each. Six checks were dated in June and three others were dated for September. The bogus checks read "Cashier's Check" rather than "Official Check," which appears on the bank's genuine version. The checks have drawn the attention of the U.S. Attorney's Anti-Terrorism Task Force, which is trying to determine whether there are terrorist links.
Twelve million bucks buys a lot of food processing equipment... |