CPA Helps Account for Terror in Sept. 11 Financing Investigation

By Simon Eskow

Terrorists involved in the Sept. 11 attacks last year entered the country legally, armed with about $500,000 in cash to carry out their deadly mission, a special agent for the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said at a luncheon meeting in May.

Steven N. Garfinkel, a CPA and supervisory special agent in New York state for the FBI’s Internal Bank Fraud and Money Laundering Squad, said the multi-agency Terrorist Financing Review Group investigated 75,000 financial transactions, tracing $303,000 in terrorist money to a number of bank accounts in Florida.

Garfinkel told attendees that it also was assumed that the estimated 19 hijackers could have brought in another $10,000 each when they first entered the country, though he noted new leads could bring to light other income.

Garfinkel was the guest speaker at the luncheon meeting sponsored by the New York State Society of CPAs’ Cooperation with Bankers and Other Credit Grantors Committee at the Yale Club on May 14. He summarized the Terrorist Financing Review Group’s investigation into the Sept. 11 attacks in front of more than 50 attendees, including journalists from USA Today, The Daily News, The Wall Street Journal, CFO.com and The Journal of Accountancy. A representative from the office of State Attorney General Eliot Spitzer also was present.

Garfinkel acted as the contact person for the Review Group, which was formed a month after the attacks to trace how money was funneled into the terrorists’ hands. The U.S. Treasury, U.S. Customs, Internal Revenue Service, Federal Reserve and the Securities and Exchange Commission, among other agencies, have representation in the group. The group was responsible for serving subpoenas to banks in order to trace terrorist money.

Garfinkel told the attendees that deposits into bank accounts at SunTrusts Banks Inc. in Florida equalled $303,481.63 while $303,671.62 was disbursed among the hijackers. The hijackers withdrew the money from ATMs, but also made extensive use of Western Union money transfers, which were not regulated at the time.

Garfinkel said a financial profile of the terrorists looked like those of any ordinary people that “operated below the radar screen.” They avoided remaining within the confines of ethnic enclaves, entered the country legally by claiming to be students, and a few received speeding tickets that went unpaid. They traveled in groups with a single member acting as interpreter, for instance when entering a bank, and they would engage in normal financial transactions so as not to arouse suspicion.

“His presentation was insightful and interesting,” said Gerald Whitehorn, chairman of the Cooperation with Bankers and Other Credit Grantors Committee. Whitehorn said the presentation showed the terrorists knew how to use banks and stolen credit card numbers to finance the attack without attracting attention.