October 20, 09

NEWS / Philadelphia Man Sentenced to 37 Months for Illegally Sending Money to Pakistans Swat Region

PHILADELPHIA—Habib Khan, 49, of Philadelphia, was sentenced today to 37 months in prison for crimes relating to his operation of an unlicensed money transmitting business, announced United States Attorney Michael L. Levy. Khan, a citizen of Pakistan, pleaded guilty last April, admitting that he operated a business, from at least November 2001 through February 2009, in which he charged a fee to wire or transport at least $2.1 million to beneficiaries in the Swat region of Pakistan. Khan never obtained a license to operate such a business and never registered this business with the federal government, as required by law. Additionally, in an effort to hide the activities of his illegal business, Khan structured financial transactions with a local bank in order to prevent the bank from filing currency transaction reports with the federal government. Khan was convicted on one count of conspiracy to operate an unlicensed money transmitting business, one count of operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and one count of structuring financial transactions to avoid the filing of currency transaction reports with the federal government.

In addition to the prison sentence, U.S. District Court Judge Joel H. Slomsky ordered Khan to forfeit $126,000, pay a $300 special assessment, and complete three years of supervised release following his prison term.

This case was investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Joint Terrorism Task Force. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Miller.

http://philadelphia.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel09/ph101909.htm