Terrorism financier sent to prison

NEW YORK, April 19 (UPI) -- A New York man was sentenced to more than 10 years in prison Monday for helping finance terrorism and conspiring to commit wire fraud.

Abdul Tawala Ibn Ali Alishtari, 57, of Ardsley was sentenced in U.S. District by Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein, the U.S. Justice Department said in a release.

Alishtari had pleaded guilty last September.

Federal authorities said in 2006 he facilitated the transfer of $152,500, believing the money would be used in Afghanistan and Pakistan to help train terrorists and buy them equipment such as night vision goggles. The man he was working with to transfer the money was actually an undercover law enforcement officer, the Justice Department said.

Alishtari also stole more than $18 million from investors in his "Flat Electronic Data Interchange" loan program, which he proffered as a high-yield investment scheme. Few, if any, of the investors received back the money they had invested, much less the promised returns, authorities said. He used the investors' money to pay for his own expenses and to support a lavish lifestyle.

Hellerstein also ordered Alishtari to serve three years of supervised release and indicated he would be required to pay restitution to his victims, in an amount to be determined in the next 90 days.