Prosecutors File Lawsuit To Stop San Bernardino Shooter’s Family From Getting $275,000 Insurance Payment
Federal prosecutors filed a lawsuit Tuesday to confiscate payments of life insurance policies taken by San Bernardino shooter Syed Rizwan Farook years before the killings took place in December, the Washington Post is reporting.
The Los Angeles U.S. attorney’s office filed a civil asset forfeiture lawsuit for two polices amounting to a total of $275,000. The shooter took out the insurance policies in 2013; one was worth $250,000 and the other worth $25,000.
Farook’s mother, Rafia Farook, was named as the beneficiary for both policies. Rafia Farook had endured a violent marriage and had to turn to her children for protection, court records show. In 2006, she had filed for divorce from her husband of 24 years who she said was verbally and physically abusive towards her. She called him a negligent alcoholic whose behavior forced her to leave their home with the children in tow.
Little known of mother of San Bernardino shooter Syed Farook: RIVERSIDE >> When Rafia… https://t.co/Wu8REaRnRt pic.twitter.com/vFIhUxWkrW
— Los Angeles Best Of (@LosAngelesBests) December 22, 2015
During domestic-violence protection interviews, Rafia Farook detailed incidents of maltreatment and violence that she endured, including a time when her husband dropped a TV set on her when he was drunk. Another time, he had tried to push her in front of a moving vehicle and even threatened to take his life at some point. Local police had taken him into custody and placed him in a county hospital on a three-day surveillance period. The couple divorced in 2008, and Rafia Farook cited irreconcilable differences as the reason for the separation.
The U.S. attorney’s office asserts that under federal law, assets that are received from terrorism against the United States are subject to being forfeited. The lawsuit seeks to take hold of the policies and, by extension, the proceeds. U.S. Attorney Eileen M. Decker said that “terrorists must not be permitted to provide designated beneficiaries through their crimes.”
She added, “[M]y office intends to explore every legal option available to us to ensure these funds are made available to the victims of this horrific crime. We will continue to use every tool available to seek justice on behalf of the victims.”
Lee Baca pleads guilty, US Attorney General Eileen M. Decker speaks. https://t.co/Z9aQ7hjDRJ @latimesphotos pic.twitter.com/hrKWQs7OfL
— Francine Orr/LATimes (@francineorr) February 11, 2016
Only last month, Farook’s brother was arrested in a scheme with two family members in Southern California. Prosecutors say it was an elaborate plot to allow one of the family members to remain in the United States illegally, according to CBS News.
Authorities say that Farook and a friend, Enrique Marquez Jr., had been planning an attack on American soil since 2011. Marquez was later indicted for lying about weapon purchases, conspiring to provide material support to terrorists, lying on a visa application, and marriage fraud.
Farook and his wife, Tashfeen Malik, opened fire at a San Bernardino holiday party in California in December 2015, killing 14 people and injuring 22 others.
The mass shooting occurred at a conference center. Two of the victims were shot across the street where an improvised triage center had been set up. Three people died outside the conference room. The rest of the victims were spread out across the 3,400 square-foot conference hall. Police said the murderous couple had enough bullets and bombs to slaughter hundreds of people. They had left their only child with a grandmother.
Public records say Farook worked as an environmental health specialist for five years at the San Bernardino County Public Health Department. The 28-year-old graduated in 2010 from the California State University after studying environmental health. He met his wife, Malik, online and met her in the flesh during a pilgrimage in Saudi Arabia in 2013. She got permanent residency when she arrived the U.S. on a fiancee visa.
Do you think the family of San Bernadino shooter Syed Farook should be allowed to receive the payment from his insurance policies?
[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]
