Two Iranian expatriates residing in Japan have been accused of funneling 398 million Japanese yen ($3.3 million) overseas to individuals and organizations involved in weapons development and terrorist activities.
According to Tokyo’s Metropolitan Police Department (MPD), the money was transferred to bank accounts in 17 countries between January 2001 and last November.
Rahmani Akbar, an employee of a halal food shop in Yokohama, and a second unidentified Iranian national have been charged with breaching Japanese overseas remittance laws, reported Mainichi Shimbun .
According to the MPD, a number of the accounts, dispersed across Europe, the Middle East and Asia, belong to individuals or companies that do business with nuclear and missile developers.
Akbar and partner had placed money for illegal remittance in two postal Japanese savings accounts under alias. Money was withdrawn from one of these accounts, exchanged for dollars and transferred overseas. The postal accounts had received about JY 830 million from close to 140 depositors including Iranians, Colombians and Afghans.
US authorities have confirmed that there is not presence of Al-Qaeda in Japan. Following the September 11 attacks on the US, Japan offered its cooperation in the struggle against terrorism. This past December, the Japanese government decided to dispatch one of its Aegis-equipped vessels to the Indian Ocean to provide logistical support to the anti-terrorism military activities of the United States and others. — (menareport.com)
© 2003 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
