NEW: The Saudi embassy has helped its citizens facing criminal charges flee the United States. washingtonpost.com/national-secur… This story is the result of a long investigation. Here are some of the key findings.
Two citizens of Saudi Arabia, Abdullah Hariri and Sultan Alsuhaymi, are wanted in Greenville, NC, on charges of first-degree murder in the stabbing death of Raekwon Moore, who was 22. But Hariri and Alsuhaymi will likely never see the inside of a U.S. courtroom.
Before they were charged, Alsuhaymi and Hariri left the United States and are believed to be back in Saudi Arabia, which has no extradition treaty with the U.S. We obtained the travel record that shows Alsuhaymi flew out of Dulles airport 4 days after he allegedly killed Moore.
The murder charges against Hariri and Alsuhaymi are the most serious known against dozens of Saudi citizens, many of them students, who are wanted in the United States.
The FBI has concluded that Saudi government officials “almost certainly assist US-based Saudi citizens in fleeing the United States to avoid legal issues, undermining the US judicial process."
At the Saudi Embassy in Washington, that assistance has been overseen by a mid-level official named Bader Alomair, who has managed a network of American criminal defense lawyers and self-described “fixers” paid to keep Saudis charged with crimes out of prison.
This network has provided traditional consular services such as arranging for bail. But it has gone far beyond that role and helped the accused evade court-ordered probation, and arranged for travel and flights out of the U.S. when Saudi nationals have absconded from justice.
The Biden administration has demanded the Saudi government stop helping accused criminals flee. In recent communications w/ the State Dept., the Saudi government implicitly acknowledged helping its citizens escape, contradicting years of denials.
Raekwon Moore was the second youngest of Latavia Little's five children. “He was a good person,” she said. Little and her family are anguished over Raekwon's death and angry at Greenville police for not stopping Alsuhaymi and Hariri from leaving the country.
There's more in our story about how the embassy network of fixers and lawyers operates. Across the country, parents like Latavia Little are waiting for justice that may never come.
“You’ve got to hold the [Saudi Arabia] accountable,” Sen. Ron Wyden, the top advocate on this issue in Congress, told me in an interview. “I am going to press the Biden administration at every single opportunity to make sure justice is done here.”
If you want to know more about Saudi nationals accused of violent crimes who have left the U.S., you must read @shanedkavanaugh at The @Oregonian, who has done groundbreaking work on the subject. Find that here. projects.oregonlive.com/saudi/
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