Appeals Court Reverses Islamic Charity Leader’s Conviction

A federal appeals court has overturned the 2010 criminal conviction of the chief executive of a now-defunct Islamic aid organization accused of plotting to funnel money from the charity to Muslim fighters in Chechnya, The Oregonian reports.

Pete Seda learned of Friday’s ruling at the Portland halfway house where he was serving the last day of a 33-month sentence for tax fraud and conspiracy, according to his lawyer. The Iranian-American formerly headed the Ashland, Ore.-based U.S. branch of the the Al-Haramain Islamic Foundation.

A three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found that the government improperly withheld from the defense information that could have influenced the outcome of Mr. Seda’s 2010 trial, including the fact that it paid a key witness. “This is a tax fraud case that was transformed into a trial on terrorism,” Judge M. Margaret McKeown wrote in the panel’s 2-1 decision.

Prosecutors alleged the charity routed $150,000 to Chechen guerillas in the guise of humanitarian aid and that Mr. Seda falsified tax records to shield the transaction. The defense maintained that the tax discrepancy was caused by an accountant and said Mr. Seda had a long history of peacefully advancing Islam.