MICHAEL M. PURPURA
EDWARD C. O'CALLAGHAN
ASSISTANT U.S. ATTORNEYS
(212) 637-2223
(212) 637-2634

U.S. CHARGES SUSAN LINDAUER, AMERICAN CITIZEN, WITH WORKING IN NEW YORK AND ABROAD AS AN AGENT OF IRAQI INTELLIGENCE AND RELATED TERRORISM OFFENSES

DAVID N. KELLEY, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, PASQUALE D'AMURO, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), and KEVIN L. PERKINS, Special Agent in Charge of the Baltimore Office of the FBI, announced the unsealing of a Superseding Indictment in Manhattan federal court charging SUSAN LINDAUER, a/k/a "Symbol SUSAN," with acting, and conspiring to act, as an unregistered agent of the Iraqi Intelligence Service ("IIS"). The Indictment also charges LINDAUER with engaging in prohibited financial transactions with the Government of Iraq, which was listed under Section 6(j) of the Export Administration Act of 1979 (50 U.S.C. App. 2405), as a country supporting international terrorism. The Superseding Indictment, which was unsealed today, was filed on March 10, 2004.
The charges against LINDAUER are added to those already filed against RAED ROKAN AL-ANBUKE, a/k/a "Ra'id Al Anbuge," a/k/a "Raed Rokan," a/k/a "Raed Al-Anbaki," ("RAED AL-ANBUKE"), and WISAM NOMAN AL-ANBUKE, a/k/a "Wisam Al Anbuge," a/k/a "Wisam Noman Rokan," ("WISAM AL-ANBUKE"), the children of a former Iraqi diplomat, who previously were charged with acting in New York as agents of the IIS and with conspiring to do so, as well as making false statements to the FBI.
As previously alleged in the Complaint filed in this matter, the IIS, or "General Intelligence," known in Arabic as the Da'irat al-Mukhabbarat al-'Amma, or the "Mukhabbarat," was the foreign intelligence arm of the Government of Iraq. The IIS had multiple missions, including foreign intelligence collection, counterintelligence, and covert action. The IIS also played a role in terrorist operations, including the attempted assassination of former President George H.W. Bush, and attempted bombings during Operation Desert Storm. Additionally, the IIS located, intimidated, and killed Iraqi defectors and dissidents living abroad.
The Superceding Indictment alleges that from approximately October 1999 through approximately March 2002, LINDAUER made multiple visits to the Iraqi Mission to the United Nations ("IMUN") in Manhattan and met with several members of the IIS. The Indictment also alleges that in the course of these visits, LINDAUER accepted various payments from the IIS for her expenses and in return for services provided to the IIS in the course of her ongoing intelligence relationship with them. The allegations in the Indictment also state that LINDAUER traveled to Baghdad, Iraq, in or about February and March 2002 and met with several IIS officers during that trip. As explained in the Indictment, this trip was paid for by the IIS, and LINDAUER accepted approximately $5,000 from the IIS while in Baghdad, and a total of approximately $10,000 from the IIS for services provided to the IIS, including traveling to Baghdad on this occasion in February and March 2002.
As also alleged in the Indictment, LINDAUER's acceptance of money and her transporting some of that money to the United States from Iraq constitutes a violation of the statute that prohibits transactions with a government that sponsors international terrorism, and of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act ("IEEPA"), Title 50, United States Code, Section 1701 et seq., which, along with the regulations and Executive Orders promulgated thereunder, prohibits "any transaction by a United States person relating to travel by any United States citizen or permanent resident alien to Iraq."
The Indictment also alleges that on or about January 8, 2003, LINDAUER delivered, to the home of an official of the United States Government, a letter in which LINDAUER conveyed her established access to, and contacts with, members of the Saddam Hussein regime, in an unsuccessful attempt to influence United States foreign policy.
Also according to the Indictment, LINDAUER met on two occasions in Baltimore, Maryland, in June and July 2003 with an FBI agent acting in an undercover capacity as a representative of the Libyan intelligence service who was seeking to support resistance groups in post-war Iraq, and discussed the need for plans and foreign resources to support these groups. As part of her contacts with the undercover agent, and pursuant to the undercover agent's instructions, LINDAUER left packages on two separate occasions for the undercover agent in August 2003 in pre-arranged "dead drop" operations. The Indictment also alleges that LINDAUER maintained regular communication with the undercover agent via email until in or about February 2004.
Finally, the Indictment also adds a false statement charge against RAED AL-ANBUKE.
Again, as previously set forth in the Complaint, RAED AL-ANBUKE and WISAM AL-ANBUKE are sons of Rokan Al-Anbuke, the former Deputy Permanent Representative to the Iraqi Mission to the United Nations, who also worked covertly for the IIS during his tenure in the United States.
The case has been assigned to Chief Judge Michael B. Mukasey of the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. LINDAUER and the other defendants will be arraigned on these charges in the United States Courthouse, 500 Pearl Street, New York, New York, on March 15, 2004, at 11:00 a.m.
LINDAUER was arrested this morning in Takoma Park, Maryland, and will be presented today in United States District Court in Baltimore, Maryland.
If convicted, the defendants face maximum sentences of five years' imprisonment on the conspiracy count and ten years' imprisonment for acting as unregistered agents of the Government of Iraq. Additionally, LINDAUER faces maximum sentences of ten years' imprisonment for engaging in a prohibited financial transaction with the government of a country that supports international terrorism and for violation of IEEPA. The AL-ANBUKES face maximum sentences of five years' imprisonment on each false statement charge.
Mr. KELLEY praised the investigative efforts of the FBI in this investigation.
Assistant United States Attorneys MICHAEL M. PURPURA and EDWARD C. O'CALLAGHAN are in charge of the prosecution.
The charges contained in the Indictment are merely accusations, and the defendants are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty.
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