Man arrested for transferring funds from Taliban to Times Square bomber

Washington Post:

A New York man unwittingly transferred thousands of dollars from the Pakistani Taliban to fund May's failed Times Square bombing, authorities said Wednesday.

Mohammad Younis, 44, was indicted on charges of operating an unlicensed money transfer business known as a hawala, an informal network popular in South Asia and the Middle East. He was arrested Wednesday at his home in Long Island, N.Y., by agents of the FBI-led Joint Terrorism Task Force.

Court documents say that in April, Younis met with Faisal Shahzad, who pleaded guilty in the attempt to detonate an explosives-packed Nissan Pathfinder on May 1 at one of New York's busiest intersections. The failed attack dramatized what the U.S. government calls the growing threat of homegrown terrorism.

Federal officials said Younis provided Shahzad with thousands of dollars for the bombing at the direction of a co-conspirator in Pakistan. They did not identify the co-conspirator but noted that Shahzad said at his plea hearing in June that the April cash payment had been arranged in Pakistan by Taliban associates. The indictment of Shahzad said he received $12,000 from the Pakistani Taliban to carry out the plot.

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While he may not have been aware of the plot he had to be aware that he was transferring money illegally. That is the case the US is making against him. If he is smart he will give up his source on the other end of the transaction and others can be rolled up.