Prosecutors Have Tried to Link 29 Men in Michigan to Hezbollah Fundraising

Mohammed Berjawi, who represented Hezbollah as a member of Lebanon's parliament from 1992 to 2005, contended Monday that Hezbollah does no fund-raising in the U.S., despite the U.S. government's insistence that Hezbollah receives aid it uses to target its enemies from American sources.

Berjawi said Hezbollah has "people who are sympathizers" outside Lebanon, but he maintained that the support is not financial or logistical. "If there was any fund-raising, we will be happy to announce it," he said.

The U.S. government in recent years, and especially over the past six months, has taken aim at cases in metro Detroit and other cities in which people are suspected of financially supporting Hezbollah. In August, the Treasury Department froze the assets of the Islamic Resistance Support Organization, making it illegal to contribute to or conduct business with the group -- which denies any illegal activities.

Federal investigators in metro Detroit have increasingly targeted local residents tied to the organization. According to a review of court records, prosecutors have tried to link at least 29 men in Michigan, including Talal Chahine, to Hezbollah.

In the case of Chahine, who owned a restaurant chain, prosecutors charged him with tax evasion. But they also made a point to link him with Hezbollah in court records after he spoke at a fund-raiser in Lebanon, where he was shown sitting next to a Shiite Muslim cleric tied to the group.