Month: July 2012

Rep. Keith Ellison pushing bill to free hawala businesses to send money to Somalia

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

We have written on previous occasions (here is the most recent post) about how banking laws to protect against American money going to terrorists in Somalia have dried up the hawala businesses in places like Minnesota.   Minnesota Rep. Keith Ellison is trying to change the laws so money (remittances) can continue to flow at the rate of $100 million a year to Somalia to help prop up the country.

Here is a lengthy and informative article on the latest news on money transfers from the Daily Planet:

For Aden Hassan, sending $100 a month to his uncle and cousins in Somalia felt like the least he could do. In January, as they were facing a drought-induced famine, most banks were closing accounts with Money Service Businesses, leaving him no way to help them.

Hassan said he felt guilty eating when he knew his family could be left without food or shelter without his support.

But now that a congressional subcommittee is developing a bill that will lower the financial and legal risks and costs banks encounter when holding accounts with MSBs, Hassan may soon find it easier to send money to his relatives.

“Right now the burden is on the banks to comply when really the burden should be on the wiring services,” said Rep. Keith Ellison, D-Minn.

Ellison said the bill would give banks more incentive to do business with MSBs.

Along with commercial banks, MSBs are audited frequently by government agencies, Ellison said. The Bank Secrecy Act puts more pressure on banks to be responsible for keeping records of transactions, when the responsibility should weigh on MSBs, Ellison said.

So, let’s see!—the poor fellow, Aden Hassan, who only wants to send $100 to an uncle every month happens to run a Money Service Business (aka hawala):

Both banks and MSBs have a responsibility to be audited by government agencies, said Hassan, a manager at Cedar-Riverside’s Kaah Express — one of more than 300 MSBs in Minnesota. However, Hassan said banks are more pressured to retrieve records of transactions.

$100 million a year!  And, not all hawalas are legitimate! 

Abdullahi Adan, a University of Minnesota graduate who sends money to his family in Somalia, said it’s necessary for Somalia to receive remittances in order for its economy to survive.

“The entire country relies on it,” Adan said.

The U.S. Treasury Department estimates remittances from American Somalis total $100 million per year.

“If you take this money out, there is no way that this community could supplement the money in remittances in the form of foreign aid,” Ellison said.

Somalia got about $9.3 million in foreign aid in 2011, according to Global Humanitarian Assistance.

“In reality the money transfer industry in Somalia is the only financial sector that really exists there,” said Adan.

[…..]

Adan acknowledged that the way some use hawalas may not be completely legitimate. [LOL! This is the second to the last line in the story—ed]

Huntington, WV food stamp fraud case has many twists and turns

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I haven’t had an immigrant food stamp fraud story in awhile.  I was assuming the Obama Administration was not aggressively prosecuting cases in light of the on-going discussion in Congress about reforming the food stamp program.

But, here is a really interesting case in Huntington, WV where this news channel WSAZ  has had the foresight to list all of their stories on the case since it first broke earlier this year so that readers new to the story could follow the progression up to the recent guilty plea by store manager, Ibrahim Osman Owayda (sounds Somali, does anyone know?).  And, I see that Homeland Security was involved in the investigation.  I bet there is a lot more to this investigation than we see here.

From WSAZ (Huntington, WV):

HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (WSAZ) — A former Huntington store manager has pleaded guilty to defrauding the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (“SNAP”), formerly known as the Food Stamp Program.

Ibrahim Osman Owayda, also known as “Abe,” 34, of Huntington, was a manager of Huntington Mart formerly located at 1117 Hal Greer Boulevard.

Owayda admitted that in June 2010 and until November 2011, he took SNAP benefits and in turn provided cash to customers of the SNAP card. Owayda further admitted that he gave only 50 to 65 cents on the dollar for the SNAP benefits and then pocketed the rest — reaping large profits from the transactions.

Owayda admitted that he redeemed a total of approximately $297,871 in SNAP benefits from the illegal scheme.

Owayda faces up to 5 years in prison and a $10,000 dollar fine when he is sentenced on October 1. He will also owe restitution in the amount of $297,871.

The store was shut down after being deemed a public nuisance by the City of Huntington.

Check it out because the rest of this link has the previous stories on the evolution of the case.

New readers interested in the proliferation of food stamp scams,  mostly at these immigrant-owned or managed convenience stores, should search RRW for ‘food stamp fraud.’  We have posted dozens of cases of this type of fraud—exchanging benefits for cash—and my theory is that this is organized crime generated abroad where would-be store owners use one of several legal programs to get into the US and purchase a ‘mom & pop’ store and set up this sort of lucrative scam.

And, by the way, good luck getting any restitution from these crooks—I’m betting much of their ‘take’ was sent out of the country.

Minnesota dessert-maker to be sued by CAIR over Somali dress code dispute

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

I sure hope this company has deep pockets (remember the Minnesota Gold & Plump chicken plant settlement?)  And to tell you the truth what would prompt any Minnesota company to hire Somalis—aren’t they following the Somali lawsuit history right there in their own state!

Here is the tale of woe to be visited on Dianne’s Desserts (I previously mentioned the controversy here):

The Council on American-Islamic Relations is preparing to file discrimination charges against Dianne’s Fine Desserts for allegedly mistreating Somali workers.

About 45 Somali workers walked off their work site because they refused to follow a new dress code mandating that workers roll up their skirts so they are “15 inches from the ground,” which some are calling a “burqa ban.” CAIR’s president says that new policy was merely a pretext for something more sinister.

“We have more going on here than just a new dress code,” Lori Saroya told the Faribault Daily News. “We’re hearing about an extremely hostile work environment that they’ve been dealing with. We’re hearing the dress code was created to target the Somali employees because the company knew they couldn’t comply with it so they could get rid of them. Many of these people are reporting being subjected to other forms of harassment, and it’s shocking.”

Then here is the kind of thinking that gets these people (owners and managers of companies) in trouble—we are keeping our demographics about the same!  Say what!  Is this what we have come to?  We have to have one of this race, and one of that race, and one of that religious group and one from this country and one from that country!

Knowles [Mike Knowles, owner of Dianne’s] said Dianne’s has hired people to replace at least a portion of the workers already while keeping the demographics about the same. Many have already been replaced, according to Knowles’s comments in the Daily News.

“We have hired a number of diverse workers who are willing to abide by the new safety rules. We’re continuing to run the plant and keep things going. We are getting new applicants every day,” Knowles said. He pledged full cooperation with the EEOC and said he looks forward “to the opportunity for the truth to come out.”

Meanwhile, we learned today that Norway is sending Somalis back to Somalia!

Vlad Tepes blog: Norway getting ready to return Somali migrants to Somalia (wow!)

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Well heck, why not!  It was only a few weeks ago we learned that Mogadishu is safe—read all about it here!

We have heard of Canada sending Somali criminals back, but this is amazing for Norway!

Vlad Tepes:

In deepest secrecy, the government has prepared a return accord with Somalia.

It means that asylum seekers from Mogadishu and other southern somali regions can be sent back by force.

Somalis are the biggest group of asylum seekers to Norway. All in all, 1422 asylum seekers from Somalia came to Norway in 2011.

Last week, hidden meetings were held among state secretary Pål Lønseth (Ap) [socialdemocrates] and Somalia’s home minister, Abdisamad Mo’allin Mohamud.

VG Nett [this paper] knew before about the meeting but chose, for reasons of security, to wait with publishing the information until the minister had left the country.

Be sure to read the comments.

Canadian government trying to NOT give free health care to asylum seekers

~ Ann Corcoran ~ Leave a comment

Supposedly new regulations would also have cut off health care to refugees, and the refugee industry went nuts.  So the government backtracked and wants to make it clear that asylum seekers (really aliens who got into Canada illegally or came on a visa of some sort and now claim they will be persecuted if returned to their home country) will not have the benefits of Canada’s SOCIALIZED medicine, but proper refugees will.   Why?  Canada can’t afford to do it!

In the meantime, the US is extending Obamacare to refugees and presumably asylees as well as we reported, here, a couple of days ago.

Here is the story from The Star:

Ottawa has backed down on its health-care cuts for resettled refugees on income support, but other asylum seekers are still not immune from the axe.

The federal government quietly amended information about the changes on its website late Friday, just before the cuts to the Interim Federal Health Program (IFHP) kicked in on the weekend.

As a result, impoverished refugees resettled to Canada through government and private sponsorships can still access hospital services, diagnostic and ambulance services, as well as supplementary health support such as wheelchairs, dental and vision care — equivalent to what is available to low-income Canadians.

Critics who fought staunchly against the cuts said Ottawa’s flip-flop indicates the government’s recognition of vulnerable refugees’ health-care needs.

Alexis Pavlich, a spokesperson for Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, said the minister has “repeatedly” stated that government-sponsored refugees would continue to receive health care.

“The original criteria did not make this intention clear, which is why the language of the policy has been modified,” she said in an email to the Star.

“Our intention was to ensure that those who come to Canada as asylum seekers from abroad do not receive better health-care coverage than Canadians. Our intention was never to have this policy impact government-sponsored refugees.”

However, critics said the last-minute reprieve is not good enough and many are still denied basic health care, including those who come from Ottawa’s yet-to-defined “safe countries” — likely including Mexico, Hungary and Czech Republic — and failed refugee claimants awaiting appeals and deportation.

Imagine that—a “refugee” from Mexico gets all the way to Canada and is denied dental care!  What is this mean old world coming to?