2/2/2005 3:00:00 PM GMT
Source: www.wstm.com
The defense team for a Muslim doctor allegedly accused in the United States of running an illegal charity said that there is “a glaring lack of evidence" against him.
Doctor Rafil Dhafir is allegedly accused of heading an illegal charitable organization that defrauded donors and violated the U.S. sanctions by sending donations to Iraq.
Defense attorney Joel Cohen told a federal jury in Syracuse on Wednesday that the government’s case was based on "speculation, surmise and suspicion."
The jury is expected to start deliberations on Thursday.
Doctor Dhafir is charged with conspiring to breach the then U.S. sanctions against Iraq.
He is also accused of defrauding donors out of 544 thousand dollars that he used for his own personal purposes, including buying two Syracuse coin-operated laundries.
The government alleges that the oncologist also defrauded Medicare out of 316 thousand dollars by treatment bills as if he was in his office while he was abroad.
It also accuses Doctor Dhafir of tax evasion.