For Law Enforcement
The published content at Fuqra Files is only a portion of the data collection project that amounts to tens of thousands of files. Members of law enforcement are welcome to reach out to us with requests for additional information and briefings using the form below. You are the best resource for leading the investigations into criminal groups.
It is our experience that local law enforcement and even federal investigators are often unaware of MOA and its history. This experience is shared by Lawrence Martines, the former director of the Nevada department of homeland security:
“It should be recognized by state and local law enforcement that although the FBI has official responsibility for investigating and prosecuting terrorists, it will probably be the patrolman on the street or the detective conducting a crime follow-up that will be the first to come face-to-face with JAF operational cells, just as it has been over the past decade.
Yet surprisingly most nonfederal agencies are unaware of the existence or background of the Fuqra… Infiltration of this sect is next to impossible, so informants will be few and far between.”[1]
A 2005 Justice Department-funded study into the nexus between white-collar crime and terrorism that focused on Fuqra made the following observations:[2]
“During development of the Fuqra cases, FBI agents were reluctant or unwilling to communicate information about federal-level Fuqra investigations (or even acknowledge the existence of the cases) to those outside of the FBI. This failure to communicate, in general, does not encourage information sharing (by others), according to one investigator. Even in 2003 and early 2004, FBI agents would not acknowledge to state law enforcement that the Fuqra group was a concern.”
“Even in today’s post-9/11 environment, cooperation by the FBI with state and local law enforcement is rare, unless a personal relationship has been established between agents and officers. On the formal level, it is nearly impossible for state and local law enforcement to get anything substantive from the FBI unless they are directly involved in the investigation. Informal means of communication are the only means of obtaining useful information.”
“Concerns were expressed about ‘having another Waco incident,’ especially since a number of people at the Buena Vista compound were women and children. A state trooper who became concerned about the Fuqra presence was told to ‘back off’ by federal law enforcement.”
“Perceived prejudices (e.g., profiling) associated with members of minority races or religious groups made pursuing the Fuqra case difficult. In the early stages, the FBI wanted to do the case, but the U.S. Attorney refused to go after the religious group, and newspapers were critical of law enforcement actions citing concerns of discrimination and profiling.”
Our personal experience leads us to believe that these problems persist, apparently in even greater severity than when the study was published in April 2005.
An example can be seen in the short television special, “Sleeper Cell,” which aired on The Blaze television network in 2014. Ryan Mauro and the crew interviewed the mayor of the village of Deposit, adjacent to the JUF/MOA “Islamberg” headquarters in New York. The mayor said he had no information about a possible threat posed by the group and only knew about positive meetings between the group’s representatives and local law enforcement.
Mauro showed declassified FBI documents to the mayor, who was visibly disturbed. He said that he had never been provided with such information before.
[1] Martines, Lawrence J. (2010). Jam’at Al-Fuqra, a.k.a. Society of the Impoverished. Journal of Counterterrorism and Homeland Security International. Vo. 8, No. 3.
[2] John Kane and April Wall. (2005). Identifying the Links Between White-Collar Crime and Terrorism. National White Collar Crime Center.
Please contact us for more information, as we have not published all the investigative materials and evidence gathered that may involve your jurisdiction. We are available for trainings, briefings on this subject as it relates to your jurisdiction, or other methods of providing information. Please let us know your specifications in the contact form.