Published: Monday, May 23, 2011, 18:12 IST Place: New Delhi | Agency: PTI | |
| |
Monday 30 May 2011
India in touch with France over arrest of terror accused Indian
Tamil Islamic Terror - France
Terror suspect Mohammed Niaz, hailing from Melur in Madurai district, who was arrested earlier this month in Paris for his alleged links with the extre-mist group in Iran — ‘Jundallah’ (Soldiers of God) — is a relative of a former senior intelligence officer of Tamil Nadu cadre, Mohammed Qasim.
The officer retired in 1994 as Deputy Inspector General of Police (Intelligence).
Mr Qasim had lost touch with his extended family years ago. “I last saw Niaz as a young boy and had not kept in touch with him ever since,” he said.
Another senior intelligence officer said, “Niaz is an alumnus of the prestigious National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirapalli, where he did his PG between 2001-03. Prior to that, he studied at Moha-mmed Sathak Engineering College, Kilakarai”.
Niaz’s arrest for alleged terrorist links has shocked the intelligence agencies and the TN police as he was not known to be involved in any illegal activity in Karnataka.
“There’s nothing against him in the country, which is why the French government has not sought any informationabout him from us. He is allegedly linked with Jundallah, which has no presence in India. Probably, he deliberately maintained a clean profile here to stay clear of police attention. Niaz was a bright student and hails from a good family. He last visited his mother, Fathima, at his hometown Melur in Madurai district in January,” said the officer.
Interestingly, Niaz belongs to the same region as Imam Ali — an alleged member of the banned outfit Al Umma, who was gun-ned down along with his four aides in Bengaluru in a police encounter in Sanjay-nagar in September 2002 for his alleged role in the 1993 bomb blast at the RSS office in Chennai.
American Tamil Tigers Leader Arrested In Queens
Karunakaran Kandasamy was arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force in Queens on federal charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, prosecutors said. As head of the American branch of the Tamil Tigers, Kandasamy allegedly oversees and directs the group's activities in the United States, including fundraising.
April 25, 2007
@ 2007 NBC
NEW YORK -- The director of the American branch of the Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lanka-based terrorist group, was arrested late Tuesday in Queens on federal charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, prosecutors said.
Karunakaran Kandasamy was arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force.
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf said that as head of the American branch of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), Kandasamy allegedly oversees and directs the group's activities in the United States, including fundraising.
He allegedly held fundraising events in November and December 2004 at a church and a public high school in Queens and at a school in South Brunswick, N.J., authorities said. He was also allegedly responsible for arranging meetings in Sri Lanka between leaders of the Tamil Tigers and supporters from the United States, according to officials.
According to court papers, the Tamil Tigers organization was founded in 1976 and relies on acts of terrorism, including suicide bombings and political assassinations, to achieve its goal of an independent Tamil state in northern Sri Lanka. The Black Tiger squad of the Tamil Tigers is responsible for the assassinations of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993.
"Kandasamy hasn't merely supported the Tamil Tigers' cause, he orchestrated U.S. support," said Assistant FBI Director Mark Mershon. "We can no sooner allow terrorists to raise funds here than we would allow them to carry out acts of terrorism here."
Eleven others have been previously indicted in Brooklyn federal court on material support charges involving the attempted purchase of military equipment, including surface-to-air missiles from an undercover FBI Agent and the attempted bribery of a purported U.S. State Department official to remove the Tamil Tigers from the foreign terrorist organization list.
Kandasamy could face 15 years in jail if convicted.
April 25, 2007
@ 2007 NBC
NEW YORK -- The director of the American branch of the Tamil Tigers, a Sri Lanka-based terrorist group, was arrested late Tuesday in Queens on federal charges of providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization, prosecutors said.
Karunakaran Kandasamy was arrested by the FBI's Joint Terrorist Task Force.
Brooklyn U.S. Attorney Roslynn R. Mauskopf said that as head of the American branch of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), Kandasamy allegedly oversees and directs the group's activities in the United States, including fundraising.
He allegedly held fundraising events in November and December 2004 at a church and a public high school in Queens and at a school in South Brunswick, N.J., authorities said. He was also allegedly responsible for arranging meetings in Sri Lanka between leaders of the Tamil Tigers and supporters from the United States, according to officials.
According to court papers, the Tamil Tigers organization was founded in 1976 and relies on acts of terrorism, including suicide bombings and political assassinations, to achieve its goal of an independent Tamil state in northern Sri Lanka. The Black Tiger squad of the Tamil Tigers is responsible for the assassinations of former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi in 1991 and Sri Lankan President Ranasinghe Premadasa in 1993.
"Kandasamy hasn't merely supported the Tamil Tigers' cause, he orchestrated U.S. support," said Assistant FBI Director Mark Mershon. "We can no sooner allow terrorists to raise funds here than we would allow them to carry out acts of terrorism here."
Eleven others have been previously indicted in Brooklyn federal court on material support charges involving the attempted purchase of military equipment, including surface-to-air missiles from an undercover FBI Agent and the attempted bribery of a purported U.S. State Department official to remove the Tamil Tigers from the foreign terrorist organization list.
Kandasamy could face 15 years in jail if convicted.
Waterloo man held in Tamil Tiger missile plot (Canada)
Aug 23, 2006 | DIANNE WOOD, BRIAN CALDWELL AND BRIAN WHITWHAM
Posted on Thu Aug 24 2006 08:29:37 GMT+1000 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) by kanawa
Waterloo man held in Tamil Tiger missile plot
DIANNE WOOD, BRIAN CALDWELL AND BRIAN WHITWHAM
BRENT DAVIS, RECORD STAFF Suresh Sriskandarajah is led from Superior Court in Kitchener yesterday. He is among 4 Canadians arrested in connection with an attempt to buy arms from an undercover agent.
KITCHENER (Aug 23, 2006)
A man from Waterloo is one of nine suspects accused of conspiring to help a terrorist group in an escalating conflict in Sri Lanka.
Suresh Sriskandarajah, 26, made an unexpected appearance in Superior Court in Kitchener yesterday and was remanded in custody until Friday morning.
The former University of Waterloo engineering student is charged with conspiring with others in New York to provide material support and resources to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- commonly known as the Tamil Tigers -- from 2003 to the present.
Authorities issued a warrant for Sriskandarajah in the U.S. and asked Canadian police to pick him up on a provisional warrant. He was arrested in Toronto without incident on Monday night. Eight suspects arrested in Long Island, N.Y., include three other Canadians -- Sathajhan Sarachandran, 26, Sahilal Sabaratnam, 27, and Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam.
They are accused of travelling to New York to buy weapons -- including surface-to-air missiles, missile launchers and AK-47s -- from an undercover agent.
The sting was part of a joint investigation by the RCMP and the FBI.
The weapons were allegedly to be used by the Tamil Tigers, which has been fighting the Sri Lankan military for a separate homeland since 1983. The Tamil Tigers were declared an official terrorist group in Canada in April. The group has been on the U.S. list since 1997.
Other charges involve alleged fundraising and money laundering through charitable organizations and U.S. bank accounts.
Sriskandarajah, a slim, clean-cut man, is also charged with dealing in the property of a specially designated terrorist group from January 2005 to April 2005. The U.S. has 60 days to make a formal request for his extradition.
Nick Devlin, a lawyer with the Canadian Department of Justice, said property in such cases generally refers to goods or money of a terrorist group.
Thanigasalam, Sarachandran, Sabaratnam and a fourth man arrived at the U.S. border at Niagara on Friday, telling border officials they were going to a bachelor party.
The fourth man was turned back because officials learned of his criminal record, and he took a taxi home.
Court documents reveal that the three men described the fourth as a ''scientist'' and an expert in technical issues.
An FBI affidavit says Sarachandran told agents he was taking direction from Pottu Amman, the man alleged to have masterminded the 1991 assassination of Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and who reportedly leads the Tigers' intelligence and operations wing.
Sriskandarajah, former president of a Tamil students association at the University of Waterloo, appeared relaxed during yesterday's court appearance after being ushered in by RCMP national security officers.
He was dressed in a green checked shirt and khaki pants. A half-dozen supporters attended court, but declined to speak to the media.
Justice Peter Hambly called in local police officers to search everyone entering the courtroom, something that's not routinely done in Kitchener.
A publication ban was imposed under Canada's Extradition Act on documents presented to support the remand.
Members of several media organizations rushed to court after learning Sriskandarajah was appearing in Kitchener. His case interrupted another scheduled proceeding.
"This is a matter of some urgency and importance,'' Hambly said. "The police in Canada and the U.S. have gathered a substantial amount of evidence to support these charges.''
Active in the Tamil students association at UW until at least 2004, Sriskandarajah also took a keen interest in development and humanitarian efforts in northern Sri Lanka.
He wrote articles in student publications describing his experiences as a volunteer on two trips there in 2004 and early 2005, after a tsunami hit southeast Asia.
After his second trip, Sriskandarajah urged others to get involved and complained aid wasn't getting to Tamil people because of tension with the Sri Lankan government.
"The lack of aid in the northeast bothered me to a great extent," he wrote. "I did not see much coming from outside during the two weeks I was there."
His two younger brothers, Sutharsan and Suthan, also helped tsunami victims and later gave an emotional speech at a UW vigil attended by their mother, Ganaghamalar Kathiresu.
"I'm so proud of them," she said. "I thank God for keeping them safe."
The delegation of 28 students was led by Sarachandran, a former president of the Canadian Tamil Students Association.
Sabaratnam is a former spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Association, the pre-eminent group for about 200,000 Tamils living here, the majority of them in Toronto
In a biography posted on the Internet, Sriskandarajah said he grew up in an area known as Vanni in northern Sri Lanka before coming to Canada with his family in 1989.
An avid photographer, he listed thrill sports such as mountain climbing, snowboarding and skydiving as hobbies.
"I enjoy doing almost anything with a lot of action," he wrote. "I love speed and cutting through the surface of the water with a jet ski and racing motor bikes just for fun.''
Sriskandarajah said it was his "dream" to graduate with a UW engineering degree, get an MBA and start a technology company.
"After I establish my business firmly, I would like to get settled in my life and live somewhere more laid-back," he wrote. "My plans are to get married to a loving girl and have two cute kids -- a girl and then a boy. Hopefully, have a peaceful life from there on."
After his first trip to Sri Lanka, Sriskandarajah credited an organization called the Vanni Innovation Group with making it possible.
Vanni is described on its website as a student-run organization created in 2003 to provide volunteers and other aid in northeastern Sri Lanka.
The website also endorses organizations helping children orphaned by the war between Tamil rebels and the government of Sri Lanka.
On a resume also posted on the Internet, Sriskandarajah listed positions with Microsoft Corp. in Washington state in 2005 and Research In Motion in Waterloo in 2004.
Sutharsan Sriskandarajah was a victim in a September 2005 incident in which two brothers -- Chandrasegar Nagulasigamany, 21, and Soumiyan Nagulasigamany, 19 -- were hit by a sport utility vehicle and killed on a Waterloo street.
He wasn't seriously injured in the incident, in which two men were each charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Suresh Sriskandarajah lives with his family in a middle-class Waterloo neighbourhood off University Drive.
There are red and white roses in a well-manicured garden outside and a basketball net looms over the driveway.
"Fill your heart with songs of love and joy," says a white sign hung over the front door.
Neighbour Ian Taylor said he noticed several cars around the house and a tactical officer standing in the driveway at about 8:50 a.m. Monday.
"I didn't have any idea what was going on," he said. "I thought it was a domestic dispute."
Taylor said he believes Sriskandarajah lives there with his parents, his grandmother and two younger brothers -- one of whom plays road hockey with his own six-year-old son.
Polite and unassuming, he said, family members have mostly kept to themselves since moving in about two years ago.
"As far as I know, they're super-nice people," Taylor said. "They know we like ethnic food. They bring over treats."
Several other neighbours also said they were stunned after hearing that Monday's commotion was linked to the high-profile arrests in the U.S.
Rick Snyder said it seems hard to believe anyone in a peaceful Waterloo neighbourhood could be linked to terrorism. "I guess it can be going on anywhere," he said.
Sriskandarajah, who is represented by Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby, remains in custody until he decides whether he wants to have a bail hearing to show why he should be released.
The publication ban will expire Friday morning unless Ruby applies to have it continued.
The Record's lawyer, Tony Wong, was in court to address the ban. Media from CanWest Global and CBC told Hambly they support The Record's plan to challenge a longer-term publication ban.
"It's a case which touches on allegations of terrorist activity,'' Wong said outside court. "Today, in the post-9/11 era, all Canadians have a significant interest in knowing as much as possible about this case.''
Ruby said yesterday he doesn't yet know anything about the case and won't comment until he is familiar with it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1688880/posts
Posted on Thu Aug 24 2006 08:29:37 GMT+1000 (AUS Eastern Standard Time) by kanawa
Waterloo man held in Tamil Tiger missile plot
DIANNE WOOD, BRIAN CALDWELL AND BRIAN WHITWHAM
BRENT DAVIS, RECORD STAFF Suresh Sriskandarajah is led from Superior Court in Kitchener yesterday. He is among 4 Canadians arrested in connection with an attempt to buy arms from an undercover agent.
KITCHENER (Aug 23, 2006)
A man from Waterloo is one of nine suspects accused of conspiring to help a terrorist group in an escalating conflict in Sri Lanka.
Suresh Sriskandarajah, 26, made an unexpected appearance in Superior Court in Kitchener yesterday and was remanded in custody until Friday morning.
The former University of Waterloo engineering student is charged with conspiring with others in New York to provide material support and resources to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam -- commonly known as the Tamil Tigers -- from 2003 to the present.
Authorities issued a warrant for Sriskandarajah in the U.S. and asked Canadian police to pick him up on a provisional warrant. He was arrested in Toronto without incident on Monday night. Eight suspects arrested in Long Island, N.Y., include three other Canadians -- Sathajhan Sarachandran, 26, Sahilal Sabaratnam, 27, and Thiruthanikan Thanigasalam.
They are accused of travelling to New York to buy weapons -- including surface-to-air missiles, missile launchers and AK-47s -- from an undercover agent.
The sting was part of a joint investigation by the RCMP and the FBI.
The weapons were allegedly to be used by the Tamil Tigers, which has been fighting the Sri Lankan military for a separate homeland since 1983. The Tamil Tigers were declared an official terrorist group in Canada in April. The group has been on the U.S. list since 1997.
Other charges involve alleged fundraising and money laundering through charitable organizations and U.S. bank accounts.
Sriskandarajah, a slim, clean-cut man, is also charged with dealing in the property of a specially designated terrorist group from January 2005 to April 2005. The U.S. has 60 days to make a formal request for his extradition.
Nick Devlin, a lawyer with the Canadian Department of Justice, said property in such cases generally refers to goods or money of a terrorist group.
Thanigasalam, Sarachandran, Sabaratnam and a fourth man arrived at the U.S. border at Niagara on Friday, telling border officials they were going to a bachelor party.
The fourth man was turned back because officials learned of his criminal record, and he took a taxi home.
Court documents reveal that the three men described the fourth as a ''scientist'' and an expert in technical issues.
An FBI affidavit says Sarachandran told agents he was taking direction from Pottu Amman, the man alleged to have masterminded the 1991 assassination of Indian prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, and who reportedly leads the Tigers' intelligence and operations wing.
Sriskandarajah, former president of a Tamil students association at the University of Waterloo, appeared relaxed during yesterday's court appearance after being ushered in by RCMP national security officers.
He was dressed in a green checked shirt and khaki pants. A half-dozen supporters attended court, but declined to speak to the media.
Justice Peter Hambly called in local police officers to search everyone entering the courtroom, something that's not routinely done in Kitchener.
A publication ban was imposed under Canada's Extradition Act on documents presented to support the remand.
Members of several media organizations rushed to court after learning Sriskandarajah was appearing in Kitchener. His case interrupted another scheduled proceeding.
"This is a matter of some urgency and importance,'' Hambly said. "The police in Canada and the U.S. have gathered a substantial amount of evidence to support these charges.''
Active in the Tamil students association at UW until at least 2004, Sriskandarajah also took a keen interest in development and humanitarian efforts in northern Sri Lanka.
He wrote articles in student publications describing his experiences as a volunteer on two trips there in 2004 and early 2005, after a tsunami hit southeast Asia.
After his second trip, Sriskandarajah urged others to get involved and complained aid wasn't getting to Tamil people because of tension with the Sri Lankan government.
"The lack of aid in the northeast bothered me to a great extent," he wrote. "I did not see much coming from outside during the two weeks I was there."
His two younger brothers, Sutharsan and Suthan, also helped tsunami victims and later gave an emotional speech at a UW vigil attended by their mother, Ganaghamalar Kathiresu.
"I'm so proud of them," she said. "I thank God for keeping them safe."
The delegation of 28 students was led by Sarachandran, a former president of the Canadian Tamil Students Association.
Sabaratnam is a former spokesperson for the Canadian Tamil Association, the pre-eminent group for about 200,000 Tamils living here, the majority of them in Toronto
In a biography posted on the Internet, Sriskandarajah said he grew up in an area known as Vanni in northern Sri Lanka before coming to Canada with his family in 1989.
An avid photographer, he listed thrill sports such as mountain climbing, snowboarding and skydiving as hobbies.
"I enjoy doing almost anything with a lot of action," he wrote. "I love speed and cutting through the surface of the water with a jet ski and racing motor bikes just for fun.''
Sriskandarajah said it was his "dream" to graduate with a UW engineering degree, get an MBA and start a technology company.
"After I establish my business firmly, I would like to get settled in my life and live somewhere more laid-back," he wrote. "My plans are to get married to a loving girl and have two cute kids -- a girl and then a boy. Hopefully, have a peaceful life from there on."
After his first trip to Sri Lanka, Sriskandarajah credited an organization called the Vanni Innovation Group with making it possible.
Vanni is described on its website as a student-run organization created in 2003 to provide volunteers and other aid in northeastern Sri Lanka.
The website also endorses organizations helping children orphaned by the war between Tamil rebels and the government of Sri Lanka.
On a resume also posted on the Internet, Sriskandarajah listed positions with Microsoft Corp. in Washington state in 2005 and Research In Motion in Waterloo in 2004.
Sutharsan Sriskandarajah was a victim in a September 2005 incident in which two brothers -- Chandrasegar Nagulasigamany, 21, and Soumiyan Nagulasigamany, 19 -- were hit by a sport utility vehicle and killed on a Waterloo street.
He wasn't seriously injured in the incident, in which two men were each charged with two counts of second-degree murder and two counts of attempted murder.
Suresh Sriskandarajah lives with his family in a middle-class Waterloo neighbourhood off University Drive.
There are red and white roses in a well-manicured garden outside and a basketball net looms over the driveway.
"Fill your heart with songs of love and joy," says a white sign hung over the front door.
Neighbour Ian Taylor said he noticed several cars around the house and a tactical officer standing in the driveway at about 8:50 a.m. Monday.
"I didn't have any idea what was going on," he said. "I thought it was a domestic dispute."
Taylor said he believes Sriskandarajah lives there with his parents, his grandmother and two younger brothers -- one of whom plays road hockey with his own six-year-old son.
Polite and unassuming, he said, family members have mostly kept to themselves since moving in about two years ago.
"As far as I know, they're super-nice people," Taylor said. "They know we like ethnic food. They bring over treats."
Several other neighbours also said they were stunned after hearing that Monday's commotion was linked to the high-profile arrests in the U.S.
Rick Snyder said it seems hard to believe anyone in a peaceful Waterloo neighbourhood could be linked to terrorism. "I guess it can be going on anywhere," he said.
Sriskandarajah, who is represented by Toronto lawyer Clayton Ruby, remains in custody until he decides whether he wants to have a bail hearing to show why he should be released.
The publication ban will expire Friday morning unless Ruby applies to have it continued.
The Record's lawyer, Tony Wong, was in court to address the ban. Media from CanWest Global and CBC told Hambly they support The Record's plan to challenge a longer-term publication ban.
"It's a case which touches on allegations of terrorist activity,'' Wong said outside court. "Today, in the post-9/11 era, all Canadians have a significant interest in knowing as much as possible about this case.''
Ruby said yesterday he doesn't yet know anything about the case and won't comment until he is familiar with it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1688880/posts
World Tamil Movement Terrorist Organization banned in Canada
The Government of Canada lists the World Tamil Movement as a Terrorist OrganizationOTTAWA, JUNE 16, 2008 — The Honourable Stockwell Day, Minister of Public Safety, today announced that the Government of Canada has listed the World Tamil Movement (WTM) as a terrorist group, effective June 13, 2008, pursuant to the Criminal Code of Canada.”The Government is once again taking decisive action to protect Canadians from terrorism and to safeguard our nation’s security,” said Minister Day. “Listing the WTM, which is the leading front organization for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Canada, is an important step in ensuring our safety and security in the global fight against terrorism”.The decision to list the WTM meets the legal threshold set out in the Criminal Code, which requires the existence of reasonable grounds to believe that the entity has knowingly participated in or facilitated a terrorist activity or is knowingly acting on behalf of, at the direction, or in association with such an entity.The listing of the WTM is meant to support the Tamil Community of Canada, which consists of law-abiding and hard working people who have left their country of origin to build a better life for themselves and their families in Canada. The Government is taking this step to help ensure that Canadians, including the Tamil community are protected from the activities of this organization.The WTM, created in 1986, is the leading front organization for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in Canada. The various offices of the WTM in Canada transfer funds to bank accounts in Sri Lanka meant for the LTTE. The leadership of the WTM acts at the direction of leaders of the LTTE. WTM representatives canvas areas in Canada with large Tamil populations demanding large donations on behalf of the LTTE. Refusals to contribute often lead to threats and intimidation.The objective of the listing is to help combat terrorist activities, including impeding terrorist financing. For example, the listing prohibits all persons in Canada as well as every Canadian abroad from knowingly dealing with assets owned or controlled by the WTM. In addition, it is an offence to knowingly participate in, contribute to, or facilitate certain activities of a listed entity. Other related offences are set out in the Criminal Code.The listing process requires extensive analysis of security and/or criminal information and intelligence to ensure that the decision to list meets the legal threshold.The names of listed entities under the Criminal Code can be found on the Public Safety Canada Web site at www.publicsafety.gc.ca under National Security, Listed Entities.Liberation of Tamil Tigers has been listed as a Terrorist organization by over 32 states, a 2008 FBI report showed that LTTE is is more brutal than Al-Qaeda and is considered the no 1 terrorist group in the world. LTTE has been responsible for killing of innocent civilians, suicide bombings, political assassinations, child recruitment, drug trafficking, credit card/passport fraud, organized crime, use of violence, extortion and abductions. Sincere thanks to Canada for protecting this nation from and Sri Lanka from terrorist activities.
Two Canadians jailed for aiding Tamil Tigers
By QMI Agency
New York, NY —
New York, NY —
Sathajhan Sarachandran apologized to the court for attempting to buy military equipment for the Tamil Tigers in 2006, before a U.S. judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison for the crime. "I apologize. I take full responsibility for my actions," Sarachandran said. Sarachandran is one of two Tamil-Canadians sentenced on Friday for their role in attempting to buy military equipment in the U.S. for the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka. Sarachandran, 30, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, and his co-conspirator, Nadarasa Yogarasa, 55, was sentenced to 14 years in prison. In 2006, according to the FBI, the two men left Toronto to meet a supposed arms dealer in Long Island, NY. There, an undercover FBI agent posing as the arms dealer showed them a crate containing a stinger missile and its firing tube. After making a cellphone call to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka, they ordered 10 SA-18 heat-seeking anti-aircraft missiles and launchers, 500 AK-47 assault rifles and other military equipment, the FBI said. The two pleaded guilty in 2009 to charges of conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Prosecutors argued that Sarachandran had been taking orders and passing information back to high level people in the LTTE for more than a year before his arrest, and that he had a long term commitment to the terrorist organization. His defence countered, however, that he was a well-educated Canadian from a humble background who became involved with Canada's Tamil communities long before the LTTE was banned in 2006. "Even good people commit crimes," U.S. Federal Court Judge Raymond J. Dearie said. "But this is a serious offense." Yogarasa, in turn, arrived in court on Friday, appearing calm. He wore a long-sleeved white shirt under a blue t-shirt, and waved to his wife of 28 years and his 28-year-old son before he took his seat. When Judge Dearie asked him if he had anything to declare, he said softly that he wanted to be there for his wife and son, who had already endured enough pain because of his absence. He said he wanted to be able to attend his son's wedding. Yogarasa didn't react when he heard his sentence, but waved to his wife and son again while leaving the Court. Yogarasa's defence told the court that he is a good man with no criminal past. He has been married for 28 years, paid his taxes on time and is tolerant of other religions. Judge Dearie told Yogarasa that he had been respectful of the court and didn't seem to show any bitterness towards the U.S.. "But as a civilized people, we can't accept this type of activity in this country," he said. The sentencing of both men was supposed to have been heard last week, but prosecutors wanted heavier sentences, arguing that purchasing weapons for a foreign terrorist organization constituted an act of domestic terrorism. Defence lawyers argued that it was difficult to claim the crime as an act of domestic terrorism when the weapons were clearly not intended to be used against Americans, either domestically or abroad. Two others Toronto residents, Suhil Sabaratnam and Thiruthanikan, pleaded guilty to the sames charges they will hear their sentences next Monday. They also face 25-years-to-life sentences. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2010/01/22/12580766-qmi.html |
Waterloo university grad was secretly working for Tamil terrorists, FBI alleges
A University of Waterloo engineering graduate who was arrested in Ontario during a U.S. anti-terror probe used his student status to mask his work for the Tamil Tigers terrorist organization and recruited other students to act as couriers to smuggle equipment to Sri Lanka, U.S. authorities allege.
Sri Lanka born Raj Rajaratnam indicted by FBI for alleged insider trading in New York
Daya Gamage – US National Correspondent Asian Tribune
Washington, D.C. 17 October (Asiantribune.com):
Raj Rajaratnam
If convicted he will face maximum jail sentence of 20 years.
U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara, putting total profits in the scheme at $20.6 million, told a news conference it was the largest hedge fund case ever prosecuted and marked the first use of court-authorized wiretaps to capture conversations by suspects in an insider trading case.
According to a criminal complaint filed in U.S. District Court in Manhattan, Rajaratnam obtained insider information and then caused the Galleon Technology Funds to execute trades that earned a profit of more than $12.7 million between January 2006 and July 2007. Other schemes garnered millions more, authorities said.
Also accused were Rajiv Goel, who worked at Intel Capital as a director in strategic investments, Anil Kumar, who worked as a director at McKinsey & Co., and IBM Corp. executive Robert Moffat. The former officials at Bear Stearns Asset Management are Danielle Chiesi and Mark Kurland, who were affiliated with the firm’s New Castle Partners, which managed about $1 billion.
Raj Rajaratnam, was also a major contributor to the Hillary Clinton campaign and also the single largest known U.S. contributor to a charity, Tamil Rehabilitation Organization (TRO) allegedly linked to the Tamil Tiger terror group in Sri Lanka. The TRO was proscribed by the U.S.Treasury Department two years ago. The Treasury Department proscribing the TRO declared that it was a front organization of Sri Lanka’s Tamil Tiger outfit the United States designated as a Foreign Terrorist Organization FTO) in 1997 and that the charitable donation the TRO received were diverted to the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka to wage war against the Sri Lanka state.
The Tamil Tigers or LTTE was totally defeated in Sri Lanka along with the killings of its entire leadership in May this year.
Raj Rajaratnam, billionaire founder of the Galleon Group, a major hedge fund, is led in handcuffs from FBI headquarters in New York Friday, Oct.16, 2009. Rajaratnam was charged with insider trading in the stock of several companies including Hilton, Clearwire, and Google. (Courtesy-Louis Lanzano/AP)
The Sri Lankan Tamil self-made billionaire hedge fund manager is now the 236th richest American according to the 2009 Forbes Magazine. He was listed as 262nd richest American in the 2008 Forbes magazine. As of early 2009, he is the richest Sri Lankan born person in the world.
Galleon Group's Titan Fund has returned 20% so far this year (2009), outperforming the Nasdaq by 33%. Rajaratnam started his career as an analyst at the investment banking boutique Needham & Co where his focus was on electronics. He was promoted to president 1991 and launched Galleon six years later.
According to Bloomberg News Galleon, which started as a hedge fund firm focusing on technology and health-care stocks, grew to more than $5 billion in 2001 from its start in January 1997. Rajaratnam founded Galleon with three other colleagues from Needham & Co. an investment bank that focused on technology and health-care companies. None of the other co-founders are still at the firm, according to a Galleon marketing document.
Galleon Management, the company’s advisory business, oversaw more than $2.6 billion at the end of March, mostly on behalf of hedge funds, according to regulatory filings it submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission at the time. Rajaratnam held a 50 percent to 75 percent controlling stake in the advisory, the documents show.
Rajaratnam used “devices, schemes and artifices to defraud,” one of two complaints in Manhattan federal court says. Prosecutors said they used wiretaps on the billionaire’s phone. “A number of the calls intercepted over the wiretap consist of Rajaratnam either providing, receiving, or seeking material nonpublic information about various publicly traded companies,” a complaint says.
The case represents the first time wiretaps were used to target insider trading, U.S. Attorney Preet Bharara in Manhattan said at a press conference. Tips came from insiders and others at hedge funds, investor relations firms, and companies including Intel, IBM, McKinsey, and companies whose shares were traded in the scheme, Bharara said.
Prosecutors said they’ve been investigating the case since at least November 2007, when a person they don’t name in the complaint began meeting with agents of the Federal Bureau of Investigation. The person, who has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with authorities, had used inside information to trade securities and tipped Rajaratnam since 2006, prosecutors say in one of two complaints filed in Manhattan federal court.
The famous interior designer and millionaire Martha Stewart spend many years in jail after being convicted of insider trading.
- Asian Tribune -
Bribe money in Tamil terror case originated from Montreal, FBI allege
Money to bribe a U.S. official - traced during an international anti-terrorism probe aimed at the Tamil Tigers - came from Montreal, the FBI said Thursday.
FBI accuses Tamils in Australia of helping LTTE
By Indo Asian News Service | Saturday, September 02, 2006
Sydney, Sep 2 (IANS) Australian police have launched investigations into several Tamil organisations in this country after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accused the Tamil community here of supporting rebels in Sri Lanka.
Sydney, Sep 2 (IANS) Australian police have launched investigations into several Tamil organisations in this country after the U.S. Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) accused the Tamil community here of supporting rebels in Sri Lanka.
The FBI has said Tamils in Australia have been funding the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) to carry out terrorist attacks in Sri Lanka, according to a report in The Australian.
The FBI accusation comes on the heels of the arrest of 13 men in the US last week who were allegedly plotting to buy Russian-made shoulder-fired surface-to-air missiles and assault rifles for the Tamil Tigers.
Though it is not known whether those arrested had any links with anyone in Australia, Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers have been investigating the activities of several Tamil organisations in Sydney and Melbourne.
According to The Australian, FBI documents tendered in a New York court said Australia played a key role in the global fundraising efforts for the rebels.
'The LTTE relies heavily upon supporters in Europe, US, Canada and Australia to raise and launder money, acquire intelligence and purchase technology and military arms and equipment,' the report quoted the FBI as saying.
In December last year, AFP officers had launched a series of raids after reports that Tamils in Australia were helping the LTTE. However, no arrests were made.
Prior to those raids, Sri Lanka had warned the Australian government that charity donations given by Australians after the 2004 tsunami in South Asia might have been used to fund the Tamil rebels.
Australians had given over $1 million Australian dollars to Sri Lankan victims of the tsunami, largely through two Tamil organisations, the Tamil Rehabilitation Organisation (TRO) and the Tamil Co-ordinating Committee (TCC).
Both the organisations have strongly refuted the charge.
But, according to The Australian, the FBI has said that the North American offices of these two organisations were 'fronts' for the clandestine channelling of financial and military aid to the rebels.
'The LTTE relies on front charitable organisations, including the TRO and World Tamil Co-ordinating Committee among others to give their fundraising activities the appearance of legitimacy' the FBI was quoted as saying in the report.
'These organisations are also used to smuggle goods to the LTTE in Sri Lanka.'
A TCC spokesman, Perambalam Senthooran, told the weekend edition of The Australian Friday that the organisation had received legal advice that its fundraising activities did not breach Australian law.
TRO's head in Australia, a Melbourne-based gynaecologist named Rajan Rasiah, has, however, said that the TRO had no choice but to cooperate with the Tamil Tigers in directing charitable contributions because they controlled northeastern parts of Sri Lanka.
'You have to work with the permission, with the approval and with the support of the LTTE if you want to work in the northeast,' Rasiah told the newspaper.
He has, however, denied the charge that the TRO is funding the Tamil Tigers.
There are over 50,000 Tamils in Australia, both of Indian and Sri Lankan origin.
Copyright Indo-Asian News Service
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Melbourne business college chief arrested after FBI tipoff over Tamil Tiger terror offences
AUSTRALIAN Federal Police have arrested, at the request of the FBI, a director of a Melbourne business college believed to be linked to the Tamil Tigers over alleged terrorism offences in the US.
Thulasitharan Santhirarajah, 34, is expected to face extradition proceedings after his arrest on Monday when AFP agents raided homes and businesses around Melbourne, including the office of his Melbourne International College.
The raids were conducted at the request of the FBI, which has been cracking down on the fundraising activities in the US of members of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
A spokesman for federal Attorney-General Robert McClelland yesterday confirmed the US had requested that Mr Santhirarajah be detained.
"The man is wanted to face prosecution for alleged terrorism offences in the United States of America," the spokesman said. "As this is an ongoing law enforcement matter, it would be inappropriate to comment on the specifics of the case."
Mr Santhirarajah appeared briefly in Melbourne Magistrates court on Monday and was remanded in custody until next month.
As well as the city office of the college, AFP agents raided five properties and businesses in Narre Warren, Dandenong and Lysterfield.
It is understood police questioned some colleagues and business partners of Mr Santhirarajah, but later released them.
Staff at the college yesterday refused to comment on the raids or Mr Santhirarajah's arrest.
Neighbours of Mr Santhirarajah in Narre Warren said they had noticed unusual activity in their street for some time. Diana Taylor said that in recent weeks she had seen people setting up what she thought was undercover surveillance.
For more than 20 years, the Tigers have waged a bloody civil war in northern Sri Lanka. The group has pioneered guerilla techniques such as suicide bombings and using women as suicide bombers -- tactics that have since been copied by al-Qa'ida. Last year in unrelated proceedings, the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force in New York arrested the alleged US director of the Tigers. At the time, the FBI accused Australia's Tamil community of helping fund terrorist attacks by the Tamil Tigers in Sri Lanka.
Two Melbourne men, allegedly linked to the Tigers, are awaiting trial over unrelated alleged terrorism-related offences. They were charged in 2006 with being members of a terrorist organisation, making funds available to a terrorist organisation and making an asset available to a proscribed entity.
Source: The Australian
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