BOSTON, 7 December 2002 — Federal agents early yesterday seized documents in a raid on a small software firm near Boston that does business with the US government and is suspected of funding “terrorism,” a law enforcement source said.
ABC News reported earlier yesterday that agents had raided the privately held firm, Ptech Inc. The network said the company was allegedly controlled by Yassin Al-Qadi, one of 12 Saudi businessmen accused of funneling millions of dollars to Osama Bin Laden’s Al Qaeda network. But a federal law enforcement source familiar with the operation denied ABC’s report that the government feared the firm may have provided Al-Qaeda with access to federal agency computers.
The Ptech investigation involves allegations the owners and people who run the company were involved in a charitable organization that funnels money to the Middle East, and that some of the money had been used to fund “terrorism,” the source said. “This may turn out to be a big nothing. But it’s still open,” the source said.
Al-Qadi once headed the charitable organization called the Muwafaq Foundation. He has repeatedly denied any connection with Al-Qaeda or its leader, Osama Bin Laden. The US Attorney’s office in Boston said no arrests were made during the raid.
