KANSAS CITY, Mo. — A Kansas City auto-parts dealer who had sworn allegiance to al-Qaeda pleaded guilty Wednesday to taking part in a conspiracy to provide financial support to the terrorist group.
Khalid Ouazzani, 32, a Moroccan native who became a naturalized U.S. citizen in 2006, admitted that he sent $23,500 to al-Qaeda between August 2007 and mid-2008.
Although Ouazzani talked with others about ways to support al-Qaeda, including plans for the group to fight in Afghanistan, Iraq or Somalia, U.S. Attorney Beth Phillips said he did not pose a threat to the Kansas City area, where he briefly operated a business that sold auto parts and used vehicles.
Ouazzani was arrested in February on 33 counts contained in a sealed grand-jury indictment charging him with bank fraud, money laundering, interstate fraud and making false statements to the government. There was no mention of any terrorism charges in the initial indictment.
He pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering and one count of bank fraud and to an additional count of conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization.
Prosecutors said Ouazzani provided false information to obtain a $175,000 line-of-credit commercial loan in April 2007 to run his business, Truman Used Auto Parts.
In May 2007, he wired $112,830 of the loan to a bank account in the United Arab Emirates, where it was used to purchase an apartment. In June or July 2008, he sold the apartment for a $17,000 profit, which was sent by a co-conspirator to al-Qaeda, court records say.
He also agreed in August 2007 to send al-Qaeda an additional $6,500 through a co-conspirator. Phillips said the $6,500 came from the sale of his business. She declined to comment on the co-conspirator or say how long Ouazzani had been in Kansas City prior to his arrest.
Ouazzani faces up to 65 years in prison without parole, prosecutors said. No sentencing date has been set.
