Terrorists Collect Millions From Coupon Scheme

— -- N E W Y O R K, Jan. 22 — Coupons for 25 cents or a dollar off can save money for consumers, but another group of coupon-clipping enthusiasts is also filling its coffers: terrorists.

For years, people with ties to terrorism have been cutting coupons and illegally redeeming them, collecting between $100 million and $125 million annually without actually purchasing any products, Consumer Correspondent Greg Hunter reports for Good Morning America.

One investigator says that given the historical connection, it is likely that the funds contributed to the recent terrorist attacks.

"Did coupon fraud help fund Sept. 11th? I believe it contributed to the funding of Sept. 11th, yes," said Ben Jacobson, a private investigator with Peregrine Group in Miami.

Since Sept. 11, investigators have found that terrorists use a wide array of low-risk and high-reward petty crimes to fund their operations — including cigarette smuggling and credit card fraud. In Maryland, for instance, the state comptroller's office turned over a list of people who have smuggled cigarettes from one state to the other, benefiting from differing state taxes. For years, coupon fraud has also been part of this illicit portfolio.

Surprise Suspects

A former New York City police detective who testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on this topic in 1998, Jacobson said he uncovered a direct link between coupons and the people who turned out to be the perpetrators of the first bomb attack on the World Trade Center in 1993.

In 1987, he was hired by NCH, the nation's leading Consumer Coupon Clearing House, to uncover coupon fraud in the New York metropolitan area. Jacobson thought he would end up reeling in a few crooked grocery store owners.

Instead, one of the culprits turned out to be Mahmud Abouhalima, the man who is now serving a 240-year prison sentence for masterminding the 1993 attack on the World Trade Center.

Abouhalima was the manager of a Brooklyn video store that served as a meeting point for those involved in the coupon scheme and as a processing center for millions of dollars of coupon fraud in the New York area.