Cell phones were TracPhone proprietary products, the ME men were making them available for any cellular provider


Jim Yanik wrote:
am05@xxxxxxxxxxx wrote in
news:1155646691.649980.48770@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx:


Jack Linthicum wrote:
D. Spencer Hines wrote:
"Three Middle Eastern Men Found With 1000 Cell Phones, Now Face
Charges"



Do we add this one to the list of 14 phoney terror threats the
Administration has concocted when faced with a political
embarassment?


Monday, August 14, 2006
No terror ties to Michigan cell phone trio

Mackinac_bridge
Three Palestinian-Americans were stopped in Michigan with 1,000 cell
phones in their van. Had they bought the phones for resale (their
family), or were they planning to blow up a bridge (local
prosecutors)?

FBI: No terror ties to three
CARO, Mich. (AP) - The FBI said Monday it had no information to
indicate that the three Texas menarrested with about 1,000 cell
phones in their van had any direct connection to known terrorist
groups.


AFAIK, FBI is the part of 'Administration' while the local prosecutors
are definitely
not. Please, explain how this amounts to the plot being 'concoted' by
'Administration'.


[]



If the three ARABICs were just going to resell those 1000's of
cellphones,why did they take them out of their packaging and remove the
batteries?
I'm fairly sure that buyers would want to buy a *complete* phone,and
preferably in the original packaging. That is highly suspicious.

Then,were there no cellphones available for purchase any nearer to Texas
than MICHIGAN? I also note that Michigan has the highest concentration of
Muslims in the US.

Then there was the pictures on their own cellphone of a bridge
(Mackinac?)in Michigan;did the ARABICS not see any bridges on the way from
Texas to Michigan? What's special about the Michigan bridge???

Taken in context,this is all very suspicious.


--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net


The one thing nobody thought of, the phones were proprietary and could
only use one cellular provider. By removing the proprietary software
the cell phones could be used with any system. It's the American dream.

"The federal complaint contains no mention of terrorism. It alleges
that the three men defrauded consumers, TracFone Wireless Inc. and
Nokia Corp.

Florida-based TracFone sells prepaid cell phones with a limited number
of minutes at subsidized prices. It makes money when buyers purchase
additional minutes.

The government alleges the men are part of a scheme to buy up phones
that Nokia makes for TracFone and then remove TracFone's proprietary
software, enabling use of the handsets with any cellular provider.

When the phones are altered, they are no longer genuine Nokia products.

People involved in the trade of so-called "unlocked" cell phones
maintain that the practice is legal."

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2006/08/16/mich_prosecutor_dropping_terror_case/?rss_id=Boston.com+%2F+News+%2F+Nation

By Sarah Karush, Associated Press Writer | August 16, 2006

BAY CITY, Mich. --Three Palestinian-American men who were found with
nearly 1,000 cell phones were charged Wednesday with federal fraud
conspiracy and money laundering after a county prosecutor backed off
from terrorism charges filed earlier.
Maruan Muhareb, 18; Adham Othman, 21; and Louai Othman, 23, all of the
Dallas area, were charged in Bay City with conspiracy to defraud
consumers and telephone providers by trafficking in counterfeit goods.
They also were charged with money laundering on suspicion that they
used proceeds from the counterfeit cell phone transactions to buy more
phones.

Magistrate Judge Charles Binder ordered the men held at least until a
detention hearing Friday. They were arrested last Friday after buying
dozens of cell phones at a Wal-Mart store in nearby Tuscola County.

The three in Michigan had been charged there with collecting or
providing materials for terrorist acts and surveillance of a vulnerable
target for terrorist purposes.

Prosecutor Mark E. Reene asked a judge Wednesday to dismiss those
charges.

Nabih Ayad, an attorney for the three men, called the charges
"outrageous" and accused state and federal officials of "scratching
each other's backs" by shifting jurisdictions.

Florida-based TracFone sells prepaid cell phones with a limited number
of minutes at subsidized prices. It makes money when buyers purchase
additional minutes.

The government alleges the men are part of a scheme to buy up phones
that Nokia makes for TracFone and then remove TracFone's proprietary
software, enabling use of the handsets with any cellular provider.

When the phones are altered, they are no longer genuine Nokia products.

People involved in the trade of so-called "unlocked" cell phones
maintain that the practice is legal.

All the information in the federal complaint came from the defendants'
statements to the FBI in interviews before they were charged in Tuscola
County, Ayad said.

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