<font size="4"><center>Former Michigan congressman Siljander
indicted on Terrorism Fundraising</font size></center>
Former U.S. Rep. Mark
Deli Siljander
by Mickey Ciokajlo | Kalamazoo Gazette
Wednesday January 16, 2008
A former Kalamazoo-area congressman was indicted Wednesday for his part in an alleged terrorist fundraising ring that is accused of sending more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
Mark Siljander, a former Three Rivers resident who represented southwestern Michigan from 1981-87, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He allegedly lied about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
The charges against Siljander were part of a 42-count indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., that accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying -- money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Siljander could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
The charges are part of a long-running case against the charity, which was formerly based in Columbia, Mo., and was designated by the Treasury Department in 2004 as a suspected fundraiser for terrorists.
In the indictment, the government alleges that IARA employed a man who had served as a fundraising aide to Osama bin Laden.
The indictment charges IARA with sending approximately $130,000 to help Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the United States has designated as a global terrorist.
The money, sent to bank accounts in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 2003 and 2004, was masked as donations to an orphanage located in buildings that Hekmatyar owned.
According to the indictment, Siljander was hired in March 2004 by the agency and two other defendants to lobby for the removal of the agency from a U.S. Senate Finance Committee list of non-profit groups linked to international terrorism. The money used to pay Siljander had been stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to the Justice Department.
Siljander, 57, is alleged to have lied to FBI agents and federal prosecutors, telling them he had not been hired to lobby for the organization, the government said. Siljander allegedly told investigators the money he received represented donations to help him write a book about Islam and Christianity.
The indictment alleges Siljander knew his statements were false at the time he made them.
A former Fabius Township Board trustee, Siljander served in the state House of Representatives from 1977 to 1981. Siljander then served three terms in Congress until he was defeated by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, in the Republican primary in 1986.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed Siljander to serve as U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year.
According to Wednesday's indictment, Siljander now serves as the owner/director of Global Strategies Inc., a planning, marketing and public relations company in the Washington, D.C., area.
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/former_michigan_congressman_si.html
indicted on Terrorism Fundraising</font size></center>
Former U.S. Rep. Mark
Deli Siljander
by Mickey Ciokajlo | Kalamazoo Gazette
Wednesday January 16, 2008
A former Kalamazoo-area congressman was indicted Wednesday for his part in an alleged terrorist fundraising ring that is accused of sending more than $130,000 to an al-Qaida and Taliban supporter who has threatened U.S. and international troops in Afghanistan.
Mark Siljander, a former Three Rivers resident who represented southwestern Michigan from 1981-87, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. He allegedly lied about lobbying senators on behalf of an Islamic charity that authorities said was secretly sending funds to terrorists.
The charges against Siljander were part of a 42-count indictment unsealed Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Kansas City, Mo., that accuses the Islamic American Relief Agency of paying Siljander $50,000 for the lobbying -- money that turned out to be stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
Siljander could not immediately be reached for comment Wednesday.
The charges are part of a long-running case against the charity, which was formerly based in Columbia, Mo., and was designated by the Treasury Department in 2004 as a suspected fundraiser for terrorists.
In the indictment, the government alleges that IARA employed a man who had served as a fundraising aide to Osama bin Laden.
The indictment charges IARA with sending approximately $130,000 to help Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, whom the United States has designated as a global terrorist.
The money, sent to bank accounts in Peshawar, Pakistan, in 2003 and 2004, was masked as donations to an orphanage located in buildings that Hekmatyar owned.
According to the indictment, Siljander was hired in March 2004 by the agency and two other defendants to lobby for the removal of the agency from a U.S. Senate Finance Committee list of non-profit groups linked to international terrorism. The money used to pay Siljander had been stolen from the U.S. Agency for International Development, according to the Justice Department.
Siljander, 57, is alleged to have lied to FBI agents and federal prosecutors, telling them he had not been hired to lobby for the organization, the government said. Siljander allegedly told investigators the money he received represented donations to help him write a book about Islam and Christianity.
The indictment alleges Siljander knew his statements were false at the time he made them.
A former Fabius Township Board trustee, Siljander served in the state House of Representatives from 1977 to 1981. Siljander then served three terms in Congress until he was defeated by U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, in the Republican primary in 1986.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan appointed Siljander to serve as U.S. delegate to the United Nations for one year.
According to Wednesday's indictment, Siljander now serves as the owner/director of Global Strategies Inc., a planning, marketing and public relations company in the Washington, D.C., area.
http://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2008/01/former_michigan_congressman_si.html
