Man gets 9-year money-laundering term

BALTIMORE, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- A Pakistani U.S. resident has drawn a nine-year prison sentence for taking part in what he thought was a terrorism financing scheme, prosecutors say.

Saifullah Anjum Ranjha, 45, a Pakistani national with homes in Washington and Laurel, Md., pleaded guilty in Baltimore federal court to money-laundering charges after being caught in a four-year global law enforcement sting known as Operation Cash-Out, the Baltimore Sun reported Wednesday.

Prosecutors say Ranjha accepted $2.2 million over a four-year period from an undercover federal agent posing as a criminal involved in drug trafficking, counterfeit cigarette smuggling, weapons trading and providing help and financing to the al-Qaida terrorist organization.

The agent instructed Ranjha to launder the money through the hawala method of money transfer, the Sun reported. Hawala is a non-bank international money-transferring system that uses a network of individuals and businesses in which customers don't need to establish accounts or pay the higher fees that financial institutions charge, prosecutors say. They say it has become a favorite method for terrorists to obtain funding.