UAE military officer studying in Newport indicted on human-trafficking charge

 projo.com

Rhode Island news

01:00 AM EDT on Wednesday, April 6, 2011

By Katie Mulvaney

Journal Staff Writer PROVIDENCE — A United Arab Emirates military officer attending the Naval War College in Newport is being accused of lying to a Filipino woman to persuade her to come to Rhode Island to care for his five children and clean his house and then failing to pay her.
A federal grand jury indicted Arif Mohamed Saeed Mohamed Al-Ali, 46, on a human-trafficking charge, alleging he induced the woman to come to the United States and forced her to work seven days a week, until midnight, without pay at the house he rents in East Greenwich.
In addition, he was indicted on a charge that he provided U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents with false documents indicating he paid the woman $19,000, when he had not.
Al-Ali, who’s attending a yearlong program that ends July 10, pleaded not guilty to the felony charges in U.S. District Court Tuesday. Magistrate Judge Lincoln D. Almond released him on personal recognizance and restricted his travel to Rhode Island, except for Navy programs.
As part of the woman’s visa application, Al-Ali signed a contract agreeing to pay the 38-year-old $1,600 a month to work up to 40 hours a week, Assistant U.S. Attorney Mary Rogers told the court. Instead, from June to October 2010, she worked until midnight seven days a week cleaning the two-story colonial, caring for the five children and even washing the family cars, she said.
Al-Ali took away her passport, told her not to talk to people outside of the family and banned her from attending religious services, Rogers said. He warned her not to escape. The woman did and is now in hiding, she said.
Rogers asked the court to release Al-Ali on $10,000 surety to ensure he returns for future court dates. That would be enough to cover U.S. Marshals’ costs if they had to go to the United Arab Emirates to retrieve him, she said.
According to Al-Ali’s lawyer Victoria L. Walton, the woman cared only for the family’s 4-year-old while the other four children ranged in age from 12 to 19. He is here at the Navy’s invitation as a well-respected representative of the United Arab Emirates, she said. “Colonel Al-Ali is not a flight risk.” She asked that he be released on personal recognizance.
Almond agreed: “I don’t have any evidence before me that he presents a danger to the community.” He added that Al-Ali would be deterred from fleeing by the prospect that he would face jail time if he did. He ordered Walton to provide proof that his passport was in the custody of the court or the United Arab Emirates consulate.
East Greenwich police records show that Al-Ali reported the woman missing Oct. 7 from 15 Downing St. He told officers she had traveled the world with the family for four years as a nanny assisting with domestic affairs.
His wife, Samah Alharmoodi, had dropped the children off at Rocky Hill School that morning and the woman retreated to her room around 10:30 a.m. There was no answer when Alharmoodi called for her about 15 minutes later. A check of her room found her belongings and clothes missing as well as her single suitcase. Al-Ali told the police that he told her she could have a second bag, as the family members did, but she said she needed only one.
Al-Ali gave the police her passport, which he said he had because he planned to make a copy of it in preparation for a family trip to Niagara Falls. Four days later, he told officers she asked him to keep her passport because she was afraid she’d lose it, as well as for planning for the trip, reports show.
He said he hired her through a company that provides nannies in the United Arab Emirates. She had seemed happy and content, but he had learned from a family member who spoke to his Filipino help that she planned to escape in the United States, where she has relatives in New York. He told the police she had no identification, no means of transportation and no money since she asked that her wages be sent to her family in the Philippines, reports show.
A Naval War College spokeswoman said Al-Ali will continue his studies there. A call to ICE about the woman’s immigration status was not returned.
kmulvane@projo.com