Monday, February 11, 2013

Suit: Millions funneled by former ‘Ground Zero' mosque imam to finance lavish lifestyle


Feisal Abdul Rauf, imam for rthe Ground Zero Mosque

Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf pocketed money for trips, real estate and a fancy car, the suit charges

Imam Feisel Abdul Rauf, founder and CEO of the American Society for Muslim Advancement, is being accused of swiping donation money intended for the "Ground Zero" mosque to enjoy a lavish lifestyle with his wife and his mistress.
  The ex-"Ground Zero" imam, his pockets stuffed with donations given to Islamic nonprofits, splurged on a high-flying lifestyle that included expensive trips with a New Jersey gal pal, a stunning new lawsuit charges.
The married Feisal Abdul Rauf fleeced the Malaysian government for $3 million and a Westchester County couple for $167,000, according to a lawsuit filed by the couple, businessman Robert Deak and his wife Moshira Soliman.

The money was given to help Rauf's two nonprofits, the Cordoba Initiative and the American Society for Muslim Advancement, which work to combat anti-Islamic sentiment.
nstead, the controversial imam used some of the cash to provide lavish gifts and getaways to a woman identified as Evelyn Adorno, who shared "a personal relationship with Rauf," said Deak's attorney, Jonathan Nelson.
Adorno lives in North Bergen, N.J. - the same town as the 64-year-old imam and his wife, Daisy Khan.
The rest of the cash was spent on a luxury sports car, personal real estate and entertainment for the imam and his wife, charges the 11-page lawsuit.
The religious leader's largesse and expensive travel with Adorno, 57, came despite the $50,138 annual salary he reported in Cordoba's 2010 tax filing.

Khan — listed as a Cordoba director and ASMA’s executive director and co-founder — said Tuesday she did not know about the lawsuit or any charges.
“I haven’t gone on any vacations with my husband,” she told the Daily News. “I really know nothing about this.”
MOSQUE6N_4

David Handschuh/New York Daily News

The proposed mosque building at 51 Park Place in Manhattan may not come to be thanks to money being swindled from donations made to build the place of worship.

But Nelson specified the trips were with Adorno.
Rauf, who became a polarizing figure in the national debate over the mosque near the World Trade Center site, was ousted as the religious leader of the planned Muslim community center in January 2011.
The imam was at odds with Sharif El-Gamal, the developer of the project at 51 Park Place. His departure came one month after Deak claims that he discovered Rauf was misusing the donations.
The Islamic center, named Park51, opened its doors in September 2011. El-Gamal did not return a Tuesday call for comment on his former colleague.
At the North Bergen apartment where Adorno lives, an irate woman in a bathrobe slammed the door on a reporter. “I’m not going to comment as to whether I’m Evelyn or not,” she snapped.
But one resident said Adorno was a well-known figure in the building. “How could you not know Evelyn? She’s a trip,” said the neighbor, declining to give her name.
Paul Knight, the lawyer for Khan, dismissed the charges and said the imam will prove his innocence.


1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Rabbi Rosenberg and his 'interfaith' efforts for peace — Winds ...
sheikyermami.com/2013/02/10/rabbi-rosenberg-and-his-interfaith-efforts-for-...

3 days ago ... Rabbi Bernhard Rosenberg has had enough of insolent behaviour by ... be omitted during the area's interfaith Holocaust commemoration, because, ... Rosenberg is now calling for a boycott of the event he helped found, if the ...