Subject: [NEXTEL-1] Justice indicts 5 people on E-Rate fraud charges

From: [email-masked]
Date: Wed, 07 Apr 2004 14:13:40 -0400

Justice indicts 5 people on E-Rate fraud charges
By JEFFREY SILVA
April 07 12:33:00, 2004

WASHINGTON-The Justice Department said five individuals were indicted
and four of them arrested on charges of conspiracy, mail fraud and money
laundering in connection with a $2.25 billion government program
subsidizing Internet connections to schools and libraries.

The department said Haider Bokhari; his wife, Kelly Bokhari; his mother,
Shahida Bokhari, each of whom is from Kenosha, Wis.; and brother Qasim
Bokhari of St. Petersburg, Fla., were arrested April 1 on charges filed
under seal March 16 in the U.S. District Court in Milwaukee and unsealed
April 2. A third brother, Raza Bokhari, was also indicted, but the
Justice Department said he is believed to be residing in Lahore,
Pakistan.

The discounted educational, or E-Rate, for Internet access was written
into the 1996 telecom act. Nearly $10 billion has been paid out in
E-Rate grants since 1997. A House Commerce subcommittee is investigating
the E-rate program. Lawmakers were prompted to act in response to harsh
criticism of E-rate oversight in recent years by the Federal
Communications Commission's inspector general.

According to Justice, the indictment said Haider Bokhari and Qasim
Bokhari in 2001 submitted invoices and other documents to the Universal
Service Administrative Co.-the entity overseeing the Internet
program-falsely claiming to have provided E-Rate goods and services to
two schools in Milwaukee and one school in Chicago. Based on the
allegedly fraudulent invoices and other documents, Justice said the
indictment charges that the Universal Service Administrative Co. paid
Haider Bokhari and Qasim Bokhari more than $1.2 million for goods and
services that were not provided to the schools, Justice said.
The indictment further charges that Haider Bokhari and Qasim Bokhari
conspired with other family members, brother Raza Bokhari, mother
Shahida Bokhari, and Haider's wife, Kelly Bokhari, to conduct numerous
financial transactions involving the proceeds of the fraud to conceal
and disguise the unlawful activity. These alleged financial transactions
include wiring more than $600,000 to Pakistan, purchasing a residence in
Kenosha and acquiring several automobiles.

The investigation is being conducted jointly by the Department's
antitrust division, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the criminal
investigation division of the Internal Revenue Service, and the
inspector general's office of the FCC, with assistance from the U.S.
Attorney's office for the eastern district of Wisconsin.

"These charges again demonstrate the commitment of the FCC office of
inspector general and the antitrust division of the Department of
Justice to investigate and prosecute individuals who defraud the E-rate
program and underscore the benefits of the effective working
relationship our office has established with the DOJ Antitrust
Division," said Thomas D. Bennett, assistant inspector general for
universal service oversight.

The alleged violations carry jail time and hefty fines.

http://rcrnews.com/cgi-bin/news.pl?newsId=17605
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