Faisal Shahzad: American Dream FAIL, Foreclosed On, and Now a Jihadi?

Mr. Shahzad was naturalized in a ceremony in Bridgeport on April 17 of last year before a federal magistrate, Holly B. Fitzsimmons, probably with dozens of others.

Within six months, his name would appear on a case in another Connecticut court, on a foreclosure proceeding brought by the mortgage arm of Chase bank. By then he had a thoroughly American trail of addresses, receiving junk-mail come-ons for credit cards that were forwarded from one place to another.

Based on documents discarded outside his house that were found by The Times, Mr. Shahzad appears to have attended a university program in Pakistan that was affiliated with the University of Bridgeport starting in 1997. A résumé said he was studying for a bachelor of science degree with “specialization in finance.” He said he spoke Urdu, English and Pashto and liked to work on computers, play sports and “talk to people from different backgrounds.”

He also attended Southeastern University in Washington, where a transcript for the spring of 1998 showed that he earned D’s in English composition and microeconomics, B’s in Introduction to Accounting and Introduction to Humanities, and a C in statistics. In 2000, he transferred to the University of Bridgeport, where he received a bachelor’s degree in computer science and engineering.

For a while, Mr. Shahzad apparently worked as an accountant for a firm that placed temporary employees. Among the discarded documents was a time card from Elizabeth Arden, the cosmetics maker, indicating that he had worked at its Stamford office in 2001. Officials at Elizabeth Arden refused to comment.

The documents also included a copy of what was apparently an old Pakistani passport — it expired in February 2000 and listed Mr. Shahzad’s occupation as “student” — and a United States student visa that expired at the end of 2002.

Also discarded outside the Bridgeport house — where Mr. Shahzad was leasing a two-bedroom apartment through early next year — were forms from a lawsuit about a $218,400 loan from a mortgage arm of Chase bank.

From the NY Times online and can be read HERE

So it is looking more and more like the bomber in this case has turned out to be a person who’s American dream turned sour and he turned to jihad. Of course much of what the story is has yet to be hashed out and I am sure that he is being interrogated by the FBI even as I write this. The story will come out soon I suspect and the round up that happened in Pakistan will likely show connections to low level splinter group action cells. I think it is likely that we will indeed find that the Taliban got hold of him and turned him to this action on his last trip back to Pakistan.

I have been looking online for email addresses and even his CV but no joy thus far. I did find some sites earlier that may have had some of his pictures and there was a rumour of his having a Facebook page, but if he did it is no longer there as I have just checked and a link that had promise is no longer there.

I guess I will just have to wait for the firehose that is NYT and CNN to broadcast the details…

CoB

A Google came up with some interesting hits that I think may in fact be him looking for work in Karachi via Dubai:

Comment #11 (Posted by Faisal Shahzad)

Dear Sir, Good Day, I hope you are fine and in good health. Sir, I am trying to be settle down in karachi from Dubai, If you can find any suitable vacancy in your company; according to my Curriculum Vitae please advice me. In case you require any further information, please donot hesitate to contact me. I am travelling to Dubai on wednesday 28th Jan, 2009 evening. Awaiting for your quick reply. Warm Regards, Faisal Shahzad. Cell:050-1592616. Cell:+92-300-2323267.

Comment #12 (Posted by Faisal Shahzad)

To, The Manager Human Resource Department, MEINHARDT (PAKISTAN) PVT LTD D-91/3, KDA Scheme No. l, Main Tipu Sultan Road, Karachi. Dear Sir, Good Day, I hope you are fine and in good health. Sir, I am trying to be settle down in karachi from Dubai, If you can find any suitable vacancy in your company; according to my Curriculum Vitae please advice me. Please find an attached my curriculum vitae in WORD format with my snap. In case you require any further information, please donot hesitate to contact me. I am travelling to Dubai on wednesday evening 28th January 2009. Awaiting for your quick reply. Warm Regards, Faisal Shahzad. Cell:+92-300-2323267. Cell:+971-50-1592616.

A search of CT records turned up this small claims court instance where he owed over 700 bucks to an oil company:

SUV and Plate Source Connecticut

The sport-utility vehicle used in the unsuccessful Times Square bomb plot in New York was sold three weeks ago in a cash deal with no paperwork exchanged, a law enforcement source with knowledge of the investigation said Monday.

A seller in Connecticut put the Nissan Pathfinder up for sale through the online classified ad site Craigslist and sold it to a buyer who paid $1,800 for the vehicle, the source said. The deal was closed at a Connecticut shopping mall, where the buyer handed over the money and drove off, the source said.

Interesting, so purchased for cash in Connecticut and the plate came from a junk yard in Bridgeport. So, given these clues I kinda think that this person bought the car in the New Haven/Milford area and shot on over to Bridgeport to get that plate.

On the plate, who leaves their plate in a junk yard anyway? Those plates have to be returned usually to the DMV or they will charge you and keep taxing your alleged car. Like I said in my last post about this, many of those junk yards are gray market at best and at worst, mob affiliated.

I have to wonder now as to who may have carried this act out. Home grown jihadis? Some other crazy group? Or maybe a single actor? Of course they spent at least 2K on this whole deal. Rather pricey for a single actor who doesn’t actually make his case as to why he’s doing it.

Time to take a run through the sites and see if anyone’s been chatty about this…

CoB