New York/Houston, November 13: US federal authorities were in the process of seizing four mosques and a 36-storey skyscraper in Manhattan that are owned by a nonprofit Muslim organisation long suspected of having ties to the Iranian government.
In what could prove to be one of the biggest counter- terrorism seizures in the US history, prosecutors filed a civil complaint in federal court seeking the forfeiture of more than USD 500 million in assets of the Alavi Foundation and an alleged front company.
The properties targeted are the Islamic Education Center of Greater Houston, Islamic centers in New York City, Maryland and California, more than 100 acres in Virginia and the 36-story office tower called the Piaget building on Fifth Avenue in New York.
–PTI