Orange County CEO Arrested For Smuggling Tactical Equipment To Syria, DOJ Says

LAKE FOREST, CA — A 56-year-old Walnut man, Rasheed Al Jijakli, who is the CEO of an Orange County check cashing business, was arrested Tuesday on a Grand Jury indictment that alleges he illegally exported rifles and tactical equipment from the United States to Syria, the Department of Justice said in recent release.

Read the full indictment below.

The chief executive officer of Orange Check Cashing was arrested Tuesday morning on federal charges that accuse him of procuring and illegally exporting rifle scopes, laser boresighters and other tactical equipment from the United States to Syria in violation of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA), US Attorney's Office public affairs officer Thom Mrozek said.

Jijakli is expected to be arraigned this afternoon in the United States District Court on a three-count indictment that was returned by a federal grand jury on July 14.

The three-count indictment against Jijakli accuses him of violating laws prohibiting the exporting of certain goods into Syria. Jijakli also faces charges of conspiring to violate IEEPA and smuggling, Mrozek said.

Jijakli and three other alleged co-conspirators purchased and smuggled export-controlled items to Syria without obtaining licenses from the Department of Commerce from January 2012 through March 2013. Jijakli and others allegedly hand-carried the items through Istanbul, Turkey and provided them to fighters in Syria according to the indictment.

Those items allegedly included day- and night-vision rifle scopes, laser boresighters (tools used to adjust sights on firearms for accuracy when firing), flashlights, radios, a bulletproof vest and other tactical equipment.

"An indictment contains allegations that a defendant has committed a crime. Every defendant is presumed to be innocent until and unless proven guilty in court," Mrozek said. "If he is convicted of all three charges in the indictment, Jijakli would face a statutory maximum penalty of 50 years in prison."

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