According to the media reports, during the 17 June raid, the French Police discovered and confiscated more than a million US dollars in 100 banknotes and 100.000 Euros in MKO’s headquarters situated in Auvers-Sur-Oise, and more than 8 millions dollars in cash in various offices of the MKO as well in the houses of its high-ranking officials throughout France. Of course, the sum has been never returned to the organization and the group is banned of any fundraising activities inside France and in those countries that have blacklisted it as a terrorist group. The question is who is feeding MKO and what are the financial sources?
An exiled group likes MKO, claiming to be an alternative for the current Iranian ruling system, that has to spend huge sums for its insiders’ expenses, rallies and meetings, sumptuous banquets, lobbying activities and more and more, a look at its media propagandas explains enough, can never be run merely depending on charities and fundraising activities in the streets of Western countries. Once in Iraq under Saddam, the group enjoyed Saddam’s donated dollars; the regime paid it as middleman for illegal oil, arms and chemical dealings. During the past three years, financial section has also been activated in Iraq and with bringing goods from turkey to Iraq and selling it by MKO’s dealers in Iraqi market or similar activities.
The French judiciary has exonerated none of the MKO’s previous terrorist and money laundering charges and the file is fully open. In Western countries, business in the field of real estate, stock market, gold, electronic devices and … are of the activities of the group. Apart from political and legal scams of Mojahedin during these yeas including receiving tens of thousands of dollars from refugee and immigration organization (for the refugee right of the members and supporters), Mojahedin have had obvious financial ties with world’s intelligence services. Mojahedin have been careful in conducting this, in order to hide it.
In an article by Soraya Sepahpour-Ulrich, Why This Axis?, published in payvand.com, she criticizes the US administration in failing to track down the money activities of MKO:
Yet in spite of its sophistication, its groundbreaking and lawbreaking efforts, this [the US] administration has failed to track down the money that feeds the Mojahedeen-e Khalg (MEK) in Iraq; and the transactions the terrorist group make here in the United States.. . One must surely wonder how our finest who can handpick 400-500 ‘terrorists’ among untold hundreds of thousands and retain them for years in Gitmo, cannot trace money back and forth between 4000 terrorists (who are given ‘protected persons status’) under their very noses. This lack of intelligence gathering is incomprehensible – dismal at best.
mojahedin.ws – A. Afshar – 12/07/2006