An Egyptian-born student living in the United States illegally is in federal custody

Kevin Landers:

An Ohio company gets credit from the FBI for putting an immigrant student, who raised suspicions when he tried to order thousands of dollars worth of pilot information, in federal custody.

What raised the red flag is the credit card he used was declined. It was then that federal agents began to investigate.

Mahmoud Maawad is an Egyptian-born citizen living in the U.S. illegally. According to an affidavit, Maawad "placed 11 orders by wire" to Sporty's Pilot Shop located near Cincinnati "for flight equipment."

FBI agents say the 29-year-old logged on to the website for Sporty's Pilot Shop and tried to buy $3,300 in merchandise, including pilot clothes, airline software, an airport map and a DVD entitled, "How An Airline Pilot Should Look."

There's nothing illegal about that, but when the credit card was rejected for lack of funds, the store called the authorities.

FBI agents later raided his apartment in Memphis and discovered a fake social security number that they say he used to open a credit card account and enroll at the University of Memphis. They also found flight simulation software and detailed information of the Memphis airport.

Agents say Maawad once attended Bergen Community College in Patterson, New Jersey, the same city where six of the of September 11th hijackers lived.

Maawad's visa expired five years ago. He's currently charged with using a fake social security card and wire fraud. The FBI says it has no evidence that he has any connection to a terrorist group.

Stupid Terrorists