Man Linked to Hijackers Indicted

ByABC News
February 25, 2002, 12:17 PM

— -- A Virginia man with ties to Sept. 11 ringleader Mohammed Atta is indicted on document fraud charges. New York City demands eBay stop selling World Trade Center memorabilia. Americans still seem reluctant to fly in the wake of the terrorist attacks. A man pleads guilty to looting a jewelry store while pretending to be an emergency worker at the World Trade Center.

Virginia Man Linked to Hijackers Indicted

A L E X A N D R I A, Va., Feb. 22 A Virginia man with ties to Sept. 11ringleader Mohammed Atta was indicted Thursday on two counts ofdocument fraud, charged with helping an associate of Osama binLaden obtain a fake ID.

Agus Budiman, 31, an Indonesian native, has been detained sincehis arrest Oct. 30. Authorities are suspicious of his links to Attaand others whom federal authorities have identified as terrorists,but Budiman's lawyers say their client is merely a victim of guiltby association.

Seven of the Sept. 11 hijackers were able to exploit a loopholethat allowed people to obtain drivers' licenses and ID cards bysubmitting sworn statements instead of proof of residency oridentity. The loophole was closed Sept. 21.

The indictment alleges that in November 2000, Budiman falselycertified that another man listed as an unindicted co-conspiratorwas a Virginia resident, allowing that man to obtain an ID cardfrom the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles. Previous courtrecords indicate the man was Mohammad Bin Nasser Belfas, who hasbeen named by authorities as a contact for bin Laden.

Federal authorities have also said Ziad Jarrah, one of the Sept.11 hijackers, listed Budiman's address on an application to enterthe United States. Another man, Ramsi Binalshibh, twice listedBudiman's address in an unsuccessful effort to get into thecountry.

Budiman's lawyers say his address was put on those two visaapplications without his permission.

Authorities have said Binalshibh, a roommate of Atta, may havebeen "the 20th hijacker" who was supposed to be aboard UnitedAirlines Flight 93, which crashed in western Pennsylvania on Sept.11.