May 1997: Saudis Reveal Bin Laden Is Sending Money to US but Fail to Share More on Al-Qaeda Finances

Tayyib al-Madani (a.k.a. Abu Fadel) turns himself in to the Saudi government. He handled the distribution of al-Qaeda’s finances and ran some of bin Laden’s businesses in Sudan. It is said that he had to approve every al-Qaeda expenditure of more than $1,000. [Risen, 2006, pp. 181] Vincent Cannistraro, former head of the CIA’s Counter Terrorism Center, will say in 1998 that the US learned “a lot of intelligence” from this about how bin Laden “keeps his money, how he transfers it from one bank to another, what are the front companies [he uses].” [USA Today, 8/21/1998] The US presses the Saudi government for direct access to him to learn more, but the Saudis don’t allow it. The US will continue to press, and in September 1998, Vice President Gore will raise the issue with Crown Prince Abdullah. But the US will not gain direct access to him until some time after 9/11. [9/11 Commission, 7/24/2004, pp. 14; 9/11 Commission, 8/21/2004, pp. 39 ; Risen, 2006, pp. 181] In August 1997, the Daily Telegraph will publicly reveal that al-Madani has turned himself in. The article suggests that he may have been working as a Saudi double agent for some time before defecting. US sources say that Saudis have shared information that some money has been sent from bin Laden bank accounts in Pakistan and Afghanistan to individuals in London, Detroit, Brooklyn, and Jersey City in New Jersey. The article notes that al-Madani’s “information is thought to have been the reason a federal grand jury has been secretly convened in New York to examine the financing of terrorism in America.” Is it not clear what becomes of the individuals being sent the money, but the article suggests that the recent arrest of two Palestinians planning an attack in New York City is connected to al-Madani’s revelations (see July 31, 1997). [Daily Telegraph, 8/2/1997]