WASHINGTON — Michigan Senate hopeful Abdul El-Sayed’s father sits on the board of an Islamic charity that was previously accused of funneling cash to late Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein’s regime.
Imam Dr. Mohammed El-Sayed is currently a board member of Life for Relief and Development, a charity he’s worked with since at least 2020, according to tax forms.
In 2004, the US military and FBI raided Life for Relief and Development’s Baghdad facilities, confiscating 20 boxes and 12 computers amid suspicions that the charity had been aiding insurgents, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
Later, the Islamic charity’s public relations coordinator Muthanna al-Hanooti faced charges for serving as an unregistered agent for Hussein’s government and pleaded guilty to flouting the International Emergency Economic Powers Act.
Life for Relief and Development was accused by the US government of concocting a conspiracy to funnel funds from America through Jordan and into Hussein’s Iraq.
“LRD’s highest management levels—i.e., its President—knew of the conduct giving rise to the apparent violations and directed the funds transfers to Iraq via Jordan,” the government noted around the time.
The group eventually reached a $780,000 settlement with the US government, which dropped its case against the charity in 2014.
The senior El-Sayed’s ties to the Islamic charity that sent money into Hussein’s Iraq were first reported by the Washington Free Beacon.
In addition to its history of sending money to Hussein’s regime, Life for Relief and Development has been accused of other ties to terrorism.
In 2006, the Michigan-based charity was raided by the FBI and, in 2007, its then-CEO was indicted by a grand jury for flouting money-laundering and sanctions laws.
The feds confiscated “correspondence, notes, e-mails, facsimiles and other documents and records” pertaining to the Islamic African Relief Agency, a group that was later shuttered after being exposed for supporting al Qaeda.
El-Sayed’s birth mother, Fatten Fathy Elkomy, briefly worked at the Islamic African Relief Agency.
The Life for Relief and Development also sent cash to an entity that the FBI later concluded was Hamas’ Jordanian operation, as The Post previously reported.
El-Sayed’s father-in-law, Jukaku Tayeb, also once served on the Life for Relief and Development’s board.
The Post has contacted El-Sayed’s campaign and the Life for Relief and Development for comment.
El-Sayed currently has a 3.2 percentage point polling edge over Republican foe Mike Rogers, according to the latest RealClearPolitics polling aggregate.
