By Allan Lengel
ticklethewire.com
A suburban Detroit man charged with lying about his ties to a Hamas-linked charity, the Holly Land Foundation, is a well-known singer in the Muslim world, the Detroit Free Press reported.
The paper reported that Mohamad Mustapha Ali Masfaka, 47, of Farmington Hills, Mich., who is also known as Abu Ratib, sings frequently to Muslim and Arab audiences in the U.S., Europe, and the Middle East, his attorney Doraid Elder told the Free Press on Monday.
The Syrian born man was arrested last week while trying to enter the U.S. from Canada via the Ambassador Bridge, authorities said.
He is charged with attempted naturalization fraud, making false statements to FBI investigators and immigration officials, and perjury, a press release said.
Authorities alleged that he misled them when they were probing the Holy Land Foundation for Relief and Development, a Texas-based Muslim charity that was convicted in 2008 of helping to fund Hamas.
The Free press reported that he sang at Holy Land events and was paid by check for his help. Authorities say he ran the group’s Detroit area operation in the late 1990s.
