DETROIT – A federal magistrate Friday dismissed a Social Security fraud case against a Yemeni man who investigators say could be tied to Al Qaeda.
U.S. Magistrate Steven Pepe cited a lack of evidence against Mohamed Nasser Alajji.
Alajji, 31, a self-employed truck driver who has lived in the United States since 1995, was accused of fraud for not revealing he had two Social Security cards, each with different spellings of his name.
He was arrested Dec. 19 after New York police received a call from a man identified as Alajji's former brother-in-law. That man said Alajji was a terrorist linked to Al Qaeda and "was getting ready to bomb you guys."
A raid of Alajji's Detroit home turned up thousands of anti-American tapes and documents, according to prosecutors.
Alajji's attorney, Nabih Ayad, said his client is not a terrorist and is innocent of the Social Security card accusations. He said that Alajji did not speak English at the time he supposedly applied for the second number and that records show he never used it to obtain benefits.
As for the terrorism allegations, the attorney contended Alajji was a victim of a smear campaign by his ex-wife's family. He said they were bitter about a recent divorce and custody dispute.
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