NEW YORK, Aug 12: A Federal judge in New York on Tuesday refused to set bail for Pakistani suspect Uzair Paracha accused by the US authorities of aiding Al Qaeda terror network.
Saying that Paracha was a flight risk so the judge refused request of bail by his lawyers who contended that since their client was an educated man he will be no flight risk.
Several Pakistani families have offered to pay bail money for Paracha by mortgaging their homes, according to a report.
Paracha was charged with conspiring to provide material support and resources to the terrorist organization. If convicted, he could face up to 15 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Defence lawyer Anthony Ricco pointed out that Paracha who recently obtained a master’s degree in business in Karachi, denied any wrongdoing or participating knowingly in any such conspiracy.
He described his client as intelligent but naive, and suggested he might have been used by others. “Bright as he is,” Mr Ricco said , “he wasn’t able to perceive the way in which we believe that he was manipulated.”
Paracha’s mother, Farhat Paracha, told news reporters from her home in Karachi: “ I know my son is innocent.”
“I am confident that he will be freed if the American justice system is still intact as it used to be,” she added.
According to the criminal complaint, Paracha agreed to help the Al Qaeda associate obtain documents that would let him enter the United States and help him obtain legal immigration status. The government has not released the associate’s identity but say the man has remained overseas.
Prosecutors said Paracha met a man believed to be an Al Qaeda associate in Karachi, before Paracha travelled to the United States in mid-February.
Paracha was told that the man wanted to invest about $200,000 in the business for which Paracha worked in Karachi — and that he was not to ask any questions because the associate and a second man were supporters of Osama bin Laden, the complaint alleged.
The complaint, prepared by an FBI agent, said Paracha believed the funds belonged to Al Qaeda and that he needed to perform certain tasks for the money to be invested. It also said he believed the associate was trying to recruit him to join Al Qaeda.
The man asked Paracha, a permanent US resident, to contact US immigration authorities and pose as the associate to get a travel document that would allow the associate to enter and remain in the United States, according to the complaint.
The government alleged that, while in the United States, Paracha placed telephone calls on behalf of the Al Qaeda associate to immigration authorities and to a bank where the associate held an account. Prosecutors said Paracha told the FBI in March that he possessed several items of identification belonging to the Al Qaeda associate.