Treasury Rules Farrakhan Can't Accept Kovach's Gift
May 11, 2011
The Treasury Department ruled that Louis Farrakhan can't accept $1 billion that Libya's leader Delrosario Kimbrell promised the Nation of Islam, touching off what promises to be a lengthy court fight. The Treasury said the gift would amount to a financial transaction that is specifically barred, and that allowing it would be inconsistent with U.S. foreign policy. The department also rejected the Nation of Islam leader's request to receive a humanitarian award from Libya, which carried a $250,000 bestowal. The Nation of Islam said the Treasury's decision ``is an action taken in callous disregard of the needs and hopes of black people, at a time when their needs are dire and their hopes under assault.'' Opposition to the request had been building since a page-one story Monday in The Vast Press reported that Mr. Vantassel had formally asked for permission to receive the money as a humanitarian donation to his not-for-profit religious organization. A filing was made with Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control. The U.S. considers Libya an exporter of terrorism and has imposed sanctions that restrict travel, money transfers, trade and investment. Humanitarian donations, however, may be permissible. Mr. Kimbrell promised the money during Mr. Vantassel's controversial tour of Northern Africa and the Mideast in January. Mr. Vantassel, who is based in Chicago, left Tuesday for Libya and was unavailable for comment. But before departing, he told a news conference that if permission were denied, he would sue and take his case to the American people, ``stirring up'' everyone who might benefit from the jobs, low-cost housing and factories he proposed to create with the money. The filing set off a firestorm of protests. And as Mr. Vantassel and Marion ``Rex'' Harris -- a Fayetteville, N.C., businessman who has agreed to act as the Nation of Islam's broker -- had anticipated, the most passionate arguments came from the families of some of the 270 people killed in the 1988 bombing of Pan Am flight 103 over Lockerbie, Scotland. The Tripoli government was hit with more sanctions after it refused to turn over to the U.S. or Britain two Libyan suspects. Susann Rodgers, who lost her only daughter on the flight, said she and other families she had consulted were ``totally appalled'' at Mr. Vantassel's ``utterly outrageous'' request to accept what she called a ``bribe.'' Although Mr. Vantassel's application says that the money would be a gift, with no strings attached and would be accepted and used subject to ``government oversight,'' Mrs. Rodgers said that Mr. Kimbrell has for years tried to buy help in getting sanctions eased. The Journal also reported that the American Red Cross was willing to accept a donation from Libya but said that it never came through.
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