Criticism and Allegations of Fraud
Critics such as Ibrahim Hooper, spokesman for Council on American-Islamic Relations have questioned Shoebat's background story, along with others like him, saying they "belong to an 'industry' that is often perpetuated by fundamentalist Christians" and aren't former Muslim terrorists.
Skeptics have also questioned why Shoebat has been able to retain his US citizenship if it is true that he was involved in acts of terror.
The Jerusalem Post states that Shoebat has profited from his story that he was formerly a Muslim terrorist, but has rejected Islam for Christianity. When the Post asked Shoebat whether the Walid Shoebat Foundation is a registered charity, he said that it was registered in Pennsylvania. The Pennsylvania State Attorney's office said it had no record of such a charity. When asked again, Shoebat claimed it was registered under a different name, but that he was not aware of the Foundation's registered name, nor any other details, which were known only to his manager. Dr. Joel Fishman of the Allegany County Law Library in Pennsylvania expressed doubts about Walid Shoebat Foundation's donation process. He noted that if the money were being given to a registered charity, the charity would have to make annual reports to the state and federal government.
On July 13, 2011, CNN's "Anderson Cooper 360" reported an investigative piece into Walid Shoebat's claim to authority based on being a former terrorist. The report found that according to Israeli government officials, the bank that Walid Shoebat claimed to have attacked, and his own relatives, no record of his supposed terrorist history existed. A two-week prison term in an Israeli jail, another of Shoebat's claims was also unsubstantiated, with Israel having no record he was ever jailed. His cousin, interviewed in the report, stated that he had never known Shoebat to have ties to any movement, and that his claims of being a former terrorist were "for his own personal reasons".
Concerning his time in jail which CNN reported it could not confirm, Shoebat wrote:
2) Even if Mr. Griffin did check prison records, he was searching the wrong name. Had CNN examined our records that were offered to them, it will prove beyond doubt that Mr. Griffin made an error. When Mr. Shoebat was arrested he turned in his U.S. passport and not his birth certificate or I.D. card. His U.S. passport had a different last name.
Read more about this topic: Walid Shoebat
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