Robert Simmons

But the attorney, Robert Simmons, repeated denials by the Chicago-based Global Relief Foundation that it funneled money collected in America to al-Qaida terrorist cells abroad.

Sheik Mohamed Kariye, an imam at the Islamic Center in Portland, was arrested this past Sunday on charges of Social Security fraud.

Kariye helped create Global Relief along with a group of Chicago area businessmen in 1992, with the goal of helping Muslims overseas, said Simmons, a Maryland attorney.

Assets at the Chicago-based charity were frozen Dec. 14 by the U.S. Treasury Department, and the decision was later upheld by a judge who viewed secret evidence in the case.No charges have been filed.

The FBI has not said why it decided to pursue Kariye, but it may have to do with his connections with Global Relief.

Lawyers for the charity said Kariye is the victim of a witch hunt after Sept. 11.
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Simmons, lawyer for Global Relief, said the group's first annual report filed in January 1993 but dated Dec. 15, 1992 listed Kariye as an initial director.

His name does not appear on internal documents after 1992, Simmons said.

He said Kariye played a minor role in the group's formation.

"He had a very, very brief moment with the organization in 1992 and a few weeks in 1993, nearly 10 years ago," Simmons said.

"He was certainly not responsible for the organization's growth pattern, or success in doing what it did in helping people," Simmons said.

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That the charity had contacts in Oregon should surprise nobody, Simmons said.The organization had a national mailing list with 200,000 names and 20,000 active contributors in 2001 before the Treasury Department investigation shut it down.

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