New twist in Rifqa Bary case. CAIR attorney faces prosecution.

Pamela Geller, at Atlas Shrugs, who has been waging a non-stop battle to support Rifqa Bary, reported yesterday an astounding development that has come to light in the legal battle over this young Muslim girl who converted to Christianity.

CAIR Accomplices, Witnesses for the Rifqa Prosecution (Brian Smith, Tom Sanchez and Jeff Parker), Allegedly Stealing Her Legal Defense Donations: Facing embezzlement, mail tampering and illegal wiretapping charges

The smoke is clearing on why the Muslim Brotherhood/Hamas front CAIR suddenly made a deal on Tuesday to free Rifqa from sharia law (here and here). Even her defense was shocked by the CAIR capitulation. Now we know why.

It now comes out that during Rifqa Bary's trials in Florida and Ohio Family Court, Pamela Geller had made appeals to her readers to send contributions to aid in Rifqa's defense and to help her afterward. Those funds had been directed to the World Revolution Church, c/o Rifqa Bary, who's pastor Blake Lorenz and his wife Beverly were instrumental in providing sanctuary for Rifqa in Orlando, Florida. Three members of Pastor Lorenz's church, Brian Smith, Tom Sanchez and Jeff Parker staged an illegal coup and had Blake Lorenz fired. These three then opened the mail addressed to Pastor Lorenz and took possession of the checks made out for Rifqa. Then it has been alleged they turned that money over to the CAIR (Council on American Islamic Relations) attorney Omar Tarazi.

The website JAWA Report  http://mypetjawa.mu.nu/archives/200581.php  details this development.

January 22, 2010

CAIR and media’s “star witnesses” in Rifqa Bary case (Brian Smith, Tom Sanchez and Jeff Parker) facing embezzlement, mail tampering and illegal wiretapping charges 

And surprise (!), the CAIR attorney in the case, Omar Tarazi, is directly complicit in their crimes and is facing criminal charges and bar sanctions as well.

Yesterday, the Orlando Sentinel published the second article in the past week disclosing alleged recorded conversations between the current Global Revolution Church officials, Brian Smith, Tom Sanchez and Jeff Parker (aka the “Judas Three”) and the former pastors of the church, Blake and Beverly Lorenz. The Judas Three have submitted affidavits through Tarazi with the Ohio court. The conversations were recorded illegally, as Florida law requires all parties being taped to be notified they are being recorded. A criminal complaint for their illegal wiretapping has already been filed with the Orlando Police Department.

Now here's what the Columbus Dispatch and Orlando Sentinel conveniently forgot to report about their supposed "star witnesses" in the case.

Perhaps the most disturbing element to the crimes committed by Brian Smith, Tom Sanchez and Jeff Parker is that they have illegally embezzled and/or misappropriated funds sent to the church from all over the country by Rifqa's supporters intended for Rifqa’s legal defense fund. The Orlando law firm overseeing her defense fund, Fowler, O'Quinn, Feeney & Sneed, confirmed this week that they have not found any records of EVER receiving any monies from Global Revolution Church sent to the church designated for Rifqa’s legal defense. I have been provided copies of checks sent to the church designated to Rifqa's defense fund, confirming that monies were in fact received, but never forwarded to Fowler, O'Quinn, Feeney & Sneed.

Anyone who sent checks to the Global Revolution Church or transferred money through the church's PayPal account since August for Rifqa's defense is encouraged to contact the Orlando Police Department at 321-235-5300 (complaint desk) to report the funds missing.
The “Judas Three” are also facing federal mail tampering charges. After the trio engineered a church leadership coup and fired the Lorenzs back in September, they intercepted personal mail intended for the Lorenzs sent to the church post office box. Instead of forwarding the mail to the Lorenz’s in accordance with federal law, they sent the mail to CAIR attorney Omar Tarazi, who is representing Rifqa's parents in Ohio. Tarazi, knowing that the mail had been illegally obtained, then attempted to use this purloined correspondence to sabotage negotiations with Rifqa's legal team, making him an accessory after the fact to the Judas Three's felonious mail tampering. Additionally, Tarazi never notified postal authorities of the crime as required of an officer of the court. The mail tampering was attested to in an affidavit submitted to the Ohio court last month by Blake Lorenz (posted at Atlas Shrugs).

Anyone who sent mail to the Lorenzs at the Global Revolution Church address are directed towards the USPS website to file a complaint to assist the pending federal mail tampering investigation.

The Judas Three are also facing a lawsuit from former church officials who claim that the trio held corporate meetings for the church without the knowledge or notification of other corporate officers for which there are no notices, meeting minutes or agendas; conducted corporate business without authorization; and submitted falsified information to the state of Florida in order to wrest control of the corporation from other church officers. Based on this information, the Lorenzs are considering a separate lawsuit that they were illegally fired by the trio.

The selective reporting by the Dispatch’s Meredith “Hijab” Heagney and the Sentinel’s Amy Edwards is no surprise. Their persistent bias in “reporting” on Rifqa’s plight from the beginning of the affair has already been widely discussed here at the Jawa Report and elsewhere (e.g. Atlas Shrugs and JihadWatch). The actions of the Judas Three and their open alliance with CAIR appear to be an effort to cover up possible financial and other crimes. And it seems evident now, considering the settlement earlier this week in Rifqa’s case, that CAIR’s strategy in the wake of that stunning legal defeat is to attack in the media and the courts those who helped Rifqa escape an abusive home and the terror-tied Muslim community in Ohio. That the media, Tarazi and the Judas Three have banded together in a criminal enterprise should be no surprise to anyone as well.

We’ll keep you posted on the pending criminal charges and lawsuits against Brian Smith, Tom Sanchez, Jeff Parker and CAIR attorney Omar Tarazi.

[The email from Fowler, O'Quinn, Feeney & Sneed, who is overseeing Rifqa's defense fund, confirming they have no records of receiving money from Global Revolution Church (now controlled entirely by Smith, Sanchez and Parker) is below the fold.]