Employer of the Dancing Israelis Got $498,750 from SBA before 9-11

Employer of the Dancing Israelis Got $498,750 from SBA before 9-11

$498,750 Small Business Loan to Urban Moving Systems in 2001

In mid June 2001, Dominic Suter, an Israeli businessman received a Small Business Loan for nearly half a million dollars. In July Larry Silverstein, signed a 99 year lease for the World Trade Center and insured it for $3.5 billion dollars against a terrorist attack.

On September 10, 2001, the Army School of Advanced Military Studies issued a  report written by elite US army officers, which was made public just prior to  9/11. The report gave the following description for the Mossad: "Wildcard.  Ruthless and cunning. Has capability to target US forces and make it look like  a Palestinian/Arab act." [Washington Times, 9/10/01]

On Friday, September 14, 2001, Fox News reported, "The New York Times reported Thursday that a group of five men had set up video cameras aimed at the Twin Towers prior to the attack on Tuesday, and were seen congratulating one another afterwards." - FOX." http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,34250,00.html 

ABC reported on the news journal, 20/20 :

Maria, who asked us not to use her last name, had a view of the World Trade Center from her New Jersey apartment building. She remembers a neighbor calling her shortly after the first plane hit the towers. She grabbed her binoculars and watched the destruction unfolding in lower Manhattan. But as she watched the disaster, something else caught her eye.

Maria says she saw three young men kneeling on the roof of a white van in the parking lot of her apartment building. "They seemed to be taking a movie," Maria said.

The men were taking video or photos of themselves with the World Trade Center burning in the background, she said. What struck Maria were the expressions on the men's faces. "They were like happy, you know. They didn't look shocked to me. I thought it was very strange," she said.

She found the behavior so suspicious that she wrote down the license plate number of the van and called the police. Before long, the FBI was also on the scene, and a statewide bulletin was issued on the van.

The plate number was traced to a van owned by a company called Urban Moving. Around 4 p.m. on Sept. 11, the van was spotted on a service road off Route 3, near New Jersey's Giants Stadium. A police officer pulled the van over, finding five men, between 22 and 27 years old, in the vehicle. The men were taken out of the van at gunpoint and handcuffed by police.

[ ... ]

The men ranged in age from 22 to 27. The driver was Sivan Kurzberg. The other passengers included his brother, Paul Kurzberg, Yaron Shmuel, Oded Ellner and Omer Marmari. The men, who all said they worked for Urban Moving, were taken to this new Jersey State Police Station and questioned by the FBI.

ABC News has learned that after the five men were taken to jail, the en-tire case was transferred out of FBI's criminal division and into its foreign counterintelligence section, which is responsible for espionage cases. One rea-son for the shift, according to our sources, is that the FBI believed Urban Mov-ing may have provided a cover for agents of Israeli intelligence. Urban Moving is owned by Dominic Suter, an Israeli businessman. After the five men were arrested in one of his vans, the FBI got a warrant and searched the company's offices.

[ ... ]

Dominic Suter's attorney confirms that the FBI removed boxes of documents and a dozen computer hard drives from Urban Moving. He insists his client answered all of the FBI's questions. But a few days later, when the FBI wanted to interview Mr. Suter again, he was gone.

Our 20/20 cameras took these pictures inside Urban Moving some three months later. And as you can see, it looked like Suter shut down the business in a big hurry. Cell phones and personal effects were lying around Suter's office, the phones were still connected with hundreds of messages waiting. There were job applications to be processed, and the property of dozens of families packed in the warehouse. Dominic Suter's company closed down in such a hurry, some of their customers, like Frank Crisp, were left hanging.

[ ... ]

Dominic Suter cleared out of his New Jersey home, too, and he'd put it up for sale. Suter and his family had returned to Israel. We called him there, but he refused to talk to us about Urban Moving.

[ ... ]

Sources tell 20/20 the FBI developed film from a camera taken from the Israelis, and that it shows the three on top of the white van were smiling and appeared to be clowning around. The five Israelis were held at this federal jail for allegedly overstaying their visas.

Interviewed in Israel by ABC 20/20's John Miller:

Although Paul and Sivan would not talk with us about the inci-dent, Sivan and two of the other detainees did go on an Israeli talk show after their return. Oded Ellner denied they were laughing or happy that today.

Mr. ODED ELLNER: (Through translator, from Israeli talk show) Nothing of the kind, the fact of the matter is, we are coming from a country that experiences terror daily. Our purpose was to document the event.

ABC source

But how did they know there would be an event to document? In spite of this obvious question, Barbara Walters evaded the logical response to this question.

On September 14, 2001 the head of this shady company, Dominick Suter, fled the United States to Israel. The FBI later told ABC News that Urban Moving Systems, Inc. may have been providing cover for an Israeli intelligence operation. Suter has been linked to the five Israeli agents, employees of UMS, caught filming the WTC attack and celebrating as the buildings fell. The FBI had questioned Suter around September 12, removing boxes of documents and a dozen computer hard drives. However, when the FBI returned a few days later, he was gone. [New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, 12/13/2001; Forward, 3/15/2002; ABC News, 6/21/2002]

Shortly after the collapse of the towers a witness called the police and  reported that the 5 individuals were, “going to unusual lengths to photograph  the World Trade Center ruins” and they were obviously and blatantly “making light of the  situation.”  The witness stated that these men were on the roof of the office  of their employer, Urban Moving Company, and were posing, dancing, and  laughing.  [New York Times 10/8/01;  Bergen Record 9/12/01;   Ha'aretz 9/17/01;   Gotham Gazette 11/2/01]

After their indiscreet celebration on the roof of the building, the five Israelis headed down to  a nearby parking lot where they mounted the roof of their truck and resumed  their photographing and celebrating.  Another witness called the police and  told them that the men were smiling, dancing, and giving each other high-fives while viewing the destruction of the symbol of Free Enterprise in America.   [Gotham Gazette 11/2/01;  ABC News, 6/21/02]

A few hours later, the five Israelis were stopped by police while driving their  truck.  One individual had $4,700 in cash hidden in his sock, while another had  two foreign passports.  They were also found to be in the possession of a box- cutter, which they presumably had because of their job as professional movers.   [New York Times 10/8/01;   Gotham Gazette 11/2/01;   ABC News, 6/21/02]

December 13, 2001

State Granted Access to Moving Company's Storage Facility

NEWARK- The State Division of Consumer Affairs ("Consumer Affairs") is asking all citizens who have goods stored at Urban Moving Systems' Weehawken warehouse to immediately contact Consumer Affairs, Attorney General John J. Farmer, Jr., and New Jersey Division of Consumer Affairs Director Mark S. Herr announced today.

The State on Wednesday obtained a court order giving inspectors from Consumer Affairs access to the facility allowing consumers access to retrieve their goods and belongings. The State, at the same time, filed a lawsuit in Hudson County Superior Court against Urban Moving Systems and its owner Dominick Suter alleging violations of both the State's Consumer Fraud Act and regulations set forth in the Public Movers and Warehousing Licensing Act.

According to the complaint, on or about September 14, 2001, Suter departed from the United States and left no one acting as an agent for Urban.

The complaint also alleges that Suter violated the Mover's Act by, among other things, failing to provide Consumer Affairs the name of a current contact person or agent, not adequately responding to consumer requests for access to their belongings and not having an agent available for at least 20-30 per week to allow consumers access to their belongings.

"We became aware of the hardship consumers faced who could not get access to their belongings at Urban's warehouse," Attorney General Farmer said. "By obtaining this court order we can now offer consumers access to what is rightfully theirs. Our lawsuit should serve notice that we intend to prosecute those who violate our laws and undermine the public's trust."

"It appears that goods belonging to approximately 100 consumers are stored at the warehouse. Thus far we have only heard from 36 consumers," Herr said. "We have access to the facility for 30 days so we are urging consumers who have goods stored with Urban to contact us as soon as possible."

Shortly after the arrest of the men, FBI officials suspected that the Urban Moving company was an Israeli intelligence front.  Vince Cannistraro, a former  chief of operations for counterterrorism, told ABC News that the FBI was concerned that the moving company had been “set up or exploited for the purpose  of launching an intelligence operation against radical Islamists in the area,  particularly in the New Jersey-New York area.” [ABC News, 6/21/02]

The five employees who were taken into custody were all former members of the  Israeli Army.  After being transferred to jail, the FBI’s Criminal Division  sent the case to the Counterintelligence Section on account of suspicions that  they were Israeli spies.  They were then detained for more that two months.   Some of them spent 40 days in solitary confinement.  [New York Times 11/21/01;  ABC News, 6/21/02]

Naturally, several individuals attempted to research this item. One high-ranking U.S. intelligence source told Forward magazine that  intelligence agents’ investigation of Urban Moving Company led them to believe it was a front for the Israeli Mossad.  It should be noted that, at present there is no publicly  available information that conclusively confirms this allegation.  However  the above described incident, reported by various news sources, certainly casts a very dark shadow  of suspicion on the company and its employees.

Michael Chertoff was Assistant Attorney General in charge of criminal investigations on 9-11 after a stint as US Attorney for New Jersey. New Jersey was Michael Chertoff's turf.

Expanded Detail on Individual Transactions for FY 2001
Award Or Aggregate #1

Recipient Information Section help link
Recipient Name URBAN MOVING SYSTEMS INC
Recipient City Name BAYONNE
Recipient County Name HUDSON
Recipient State Code New Jersey
Recipient Zip Code 07002
Congressional District NJ90: New Jersey unknown districts
Recipient Category Individuals
Recipient Type individual

Project and Award Info Section help link
Major Agency Small Business Administration
Agency Code 7300: Small Business Administration
Agency Name SMALL BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
Federal Award ID 45966540
State Application ID Number SAI EXEMPT
CFDA Program Number 59.012: Small Business Loans
CFDA Program Title SMALL BUSINESS LOANS
Assistance Category Loans (both direct and guaranteed)
Assistance Type guaranteed/insured loan
Project Description TO AID SMALL BUSINESSES WHICH ARE UNABLE TO OBTAIN FINANCING IN THE PRIVATE CREDIT MARKETPLACE

Action Section help link (Award or Aggregate #1)
Fiscal Year 2001
Action Type new assistance action
Federal Funding Amount $498,750 * SBA loan help link
Non-Federal Funding Amount $166,250
Total Funding Amount $665,000
Obligation / Action Date 06/22/2001
Starting Date 06/22/2001
Ending Date 06/22/2024
Record Type individual action
* Note: The Small Business Administration appears to include loans that have been authorized but for which no disbursement of funding was made in their spending data that is reported to the U.S. Census Bureau. We have alerted SBA of this problem in its data and are working with them to resolve it.

Principal Place Section help link
Principal Place Code 3403580
Principal Place State NEW JERSEY
Principal Place County or City BAYONNE