Help the Needy

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For other organizations named Help the Needy, or some variation thereof, see Help the Needy (disambiguation).

Help the Needy was an unregistered charity set up by Rome New York oncologist, Rafil Dhafir. Dhafir had been born in Iraq. And he was convicted of sending funds his charity raised to Iraq, in violation of sanctions.^[1]

The organization, and a sister organization, the help the needy endowment, were founded in 1994.

Dhafir, and three other men, Ayman Jarwan, Osameh Al Wahaidy and Maher Zagha, were arrested during 6am raids, on February 23, 2003. ^{[2] [3][4] [5]}

Jarwan pled guilty on April 25, 2003.^[4] His lawyer accused the prosecutors of bad faith.^[2] He said that Jarwan had been told that, in return for his guilty plea, and his help in implicating Dhafur, he had been assured he would not receive a sentence serious enough to result in his deportation back to his native Jordan, where he would face torture.

[edit] References

1. ^ Dhafir gets 22 years in prison, Syracuse Post Standard, October 28, 2005
2. ^ ^{a b} Help Prevent the Torture of Ayman Jarwan
3. ^ INDICTMENTS ALLEGE ILLEGAL FINANCIAL TRANSFERS TO IRAQ; VISA FRAUD INVOLVING ASSISTANCE TO GROUPS THAT ADVOCATE VIOLENCE, US Department of Justice, February 26, 2004
4. ^ ^{a b} Syracuse man pleas guilty to conspiring to violate the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) by sending money to Iraq and conspiring to defraud the United States., US Department of Justice, April 25, 2003
5. ^ linked to bin Laden, Iraq: Arrests of Arabs in Idaho, New York target terror financing, World Net Daily, February 27, 2003