DOCUMENT: Crime

Alleged Bin Laden Front Raised $11.5 Million

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Alleged Bin Laden Front Raised $11.5 Million

The Illinois charity indicted yesterday (4/30) on charges that it lied about ties to Osama bin Laden, raised $11.5 million during the last five years, according to the group's most recent tax return. Federal prosecutors allege that Benevolence International Foundation and the group's director, Enaam Arnaout, have been linked to various terror plots, including the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center and a 1995 scheme to kill Pope John Paul. Benevolence, the first charity to be nailed as part of the U.S. war on terrorism, received $3.2 million during FY2000, the most recent period for which tax returns are available. The group described itself in the tax return as having been "organized to provide assistance to the needy peoples throughout the world." (5 pages)