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Ex-Lawmaker Indicted, Tied To Banned Charity

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Los Angeles Times

Published: January 17, 2008

WASHINGTON - A former Republican member of Congress from Michigan was indicted Wednesday in connection with his work for a U.S.-based Islamic relief organization that allegedly supported a prominent Afghan warlord.

Mark Deli Siljander, 56, a Washington lobbyist who served in the House between 1981 and 1987, was charged with money laundering, conspiracy and obstruction of justice in a multicount indictment handed up by a federal grand jury in Kansas City, Mo.

Federal officials said Siljander was hired in 2004 by the Islamic American Relief Agency of Columbia, Mo., after the group had been included on a list of organizations banned from receiving government contracts because of concern they supported international terrorism.

Siljander was paid $50,000 to lobby Congress to restore the group's eligibility. According to the indictment, the money was stolen by the Islamic American Relief Agency from the U.S. Agency for International Development, which had hired the organization to do relief work in Africa.

Siljander was charged with conspiring to engage in money laundering by transferring stolen USAID money and obstructing justice by lying to a federal grand jury and FBI agents, officials said.

Siljander allegedly told federal agents that he had not been hired to do lobbying or advocacy work for IARA and that the money he received was charitable donations to assist him in writing a book about Islam and Christianity.

James R. Hobbs, Siljander's lawyer, said his client was innocent.

"Mark Siljander vehemently denies the allegations in the indictment and will enter a not-guilty plea," according to a statement from Hobbs. "Mr. Siljander, a former congressman, is internationally recognized for his good-faith attempts to bridge the gap between Christian and Muslin communities worldwide."

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