MINNEAPOLIS -- Federal agents searched three money-transfer businesses in Minneapolis on Wednesday, carrying away boxes of documents and copying computer hard drives in a quest for details of financial transactions between the U.S. and several African nations.
Agents searched Mustaqbal Express, also known as North American Money Transfer Inc.; Quran Express; and Aaran Financial.
"They were asking how long have you had the office, how long have you been working here, how many employees do you have," said Abdirahman Omar, General Manager at Mustaqbal Express.
FBI spokesman E.K. Wilson confirmed the searches but wouldn't elaborate on the reason.
A copy of a search warrant executed at Mustaqbal Express and obtained by KARE 11 said authorities were looking for documents, books, records, ledgers and other materials "relating to the transfer of money, currency or funds" to Somalia, Eritrea, Kenya, Sudan, Ethiopia, Djibouti and the United Arab Emirates from January 2007 to the present. It also sought documents on ownership and management of the business and lists of clients, calendars, bank checks, safe deposit box keys, and other materials.
Agents seized receipts, business records, bank statements and other documents from Mustaqbal Express, the warrant said.
The warrant was filed under seal in the federal Eastern District of Missouri on April 3.
Abdirahman Omar, the general manager of Mustaqbal Express, said about 15 agents spent more than four hours at his business. He said they took about 10 boxes of documents and copied computer hard drives.
Mustaqbal Express' Minneapolis office serves as a central collection point for money from other locations around the country, including Seattle, St. Louis and Denver and Columbus, Ohio, Omar said. The company's Web site says it also has offices in Arizona, Montana, Tennessee and Georgia.
Omar said the office handles about $1 million to $1.5 million per month, and ships the money overseas -- mostly to Somalia. Local immigrants also use the Minneapolis office to send money back home.
He said the service is especially important because it is one of the few ways Somalis can send money back home. The country has no banks or traditional means of transferring money from one person to another, Omar said. Mustaqbal's Web site says its customers are mostly immigrants or refugees, lower-income families, and other diaspora communities.
Somalia has not had an effective government since 1991, when warlords overthrew a socialist dictator and then turned on each other, causing anarchy in the African nation of 7 million. Since January, a new government has been trying to broker peace with warring groups and gain legitimacy.
Omar said the FBI agents were polite, and just doing their jobs. Still, he was angered and said the raid gave his business a bad image.
"We're not doing anything wrong," he said. "We cooperated. We are 100 percent confident there's nothing wrong."
He said agents came in unannounced and began questioning employees individually, asking questions about what the workers do, how they send money back to Africa, who they send money too, and what kind of payments are being transferred.
"I don't know what data they were looking for," Omar said.
Mustaqbal Express has about 10 employees, Omar said, but only about five were there at the time of the raid. No one was arrested there, Omar said.
Mustaqbal Express is one of many businesses in Village Market, an indoor mall that caters to Minneapolis' immigrant community. Other businesses there sell clothing, electronics, provide Internet service, or sell food.
Mustaqbal Express shut down during the raid, but was back in business by late Wednesday afternoon.
The two other money-transfer businesses searched Wednesday are in a similar indoor mall, known as Karmel Mall, in another part of Minneapolis. Several people and shopowners declined to be quoted, but said a dozen or so federal agents were at the mall from about 8 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.
Minnesota is home to a large concentration of African immigrants, particularly Somalis who have mostly settled in Minneapolis. The most recent Census figures estimate the state has about 32,300 Somalis, but local advocates say the number is much higher.
Omar said one FBI agent told him the search was unrelated to the departures of several young Somali men who left Minneapolis in recent months and are believed to have returned to Somalia to join in the fighting there.
Nearly a decade ago, after the Sept. 11 attacks, some money exchanges in Minnesota were caught up in a national crackdown on two organizations accused of laundering money for Osama bin Laden. Most eventually reopened.
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
