Muslim Charity Reaches Deal With FBI on Seized Files
August 27, 2007 | Read Time: 1 minute
A Muslim charity in Detroit has struck a deal with the Federal Bureau of Investigation over who should pay copying costs for the personnel and financial records the agency seized, reports The Detroit News.
Last September, FBI officials raided the offices of Life for Relief and Development, taking electronic files and boxes of paper files as part of a “wide-ranging and substantial investigation” into the charity’s activities, though no one has been charged with any crimes to date.
The bureau returned the electronic files after copying them but haggled with the charity over the costs of copying paper files, without which the charity could not file its tax returns or complete audits.
Under the deal, the FBI will use a Kinko’s copying shop, and the copying is expected to cost $7,200, far less than the $21,000 to $115,000 that using a copying center with security clearances — the FBI’s preference — would have cost.
Read an article in The Chronicle about run-ins that Life for Relief and Development had with the U.S. military in Iraq and also a review of a handbook for Muslim charities by the head of Life for Relief. (A paid subscription or temporary pass is required to view Chronicle articles.)
