Report: US companies tied to Dubai hit

Investigators find funds transferred to suspects through US firms.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
dubai cctv 311 (photo credit: AP)
dubai cctv 311
(photo credit: AP)
American investigators have discovered that several companies based in the US were used to transfer funds to some of the suspected assassins of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
The companies used include Internet-based businesses that match and process payments between employers and freelance job-seekers. Financial transfers were made through these businesses to prepaid, MasterCard cash-card accounts held by the alleged Dubai assassins.
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Two of the companies mentioned by investigators, Elance Inc. and Rent a Coder (now named vWorker.com), are well-known among freelance computer-programmers.
Neither of the two companies was aware that it had been mentioned in a probe by investigators following the trail of money from the Mabhouh hit.
Sixty percent of Israelis believe the Mossad was behind the January killing of Hamas commander Mahmoud al-Mabhouh in a Dubai hotel, a March research poll found.
Of the 528 Israelis questioned in the poll – conducted by Keevoon Research in association with Mutagim – 20% refused to give any opinion, and 20% expressed a belief that Israel was not responsible. Within this bracket, 69% of secular Israelis, and 78% of those earning a higher income, believed the Mossad was indeed responsible.