HAMAS TERRORIST FINANCIER AMIN ABU RASHED AND FUGITIVE OKKE ORNSTEIN IN SYRIA

Rashed in Damascus (taken by Ornstein)

A reader has asked me why I have written a number of articles about the Dutch national Okke Ornstein, a/k/a Okke Van Ooijen, who has conducted one organized fraud after another in the Republic of Panama, but is otherwise a garden-variety career criminal. It is because of Ornstein's long association with terrorist organizations, including Amin Abu Rashed, a known Palestinian terrorist, with whom Ornstein shares radical political views.

Amin Abu Rashed, a/k/a/ Amin Abou Ibrahim a/k/a Amin Abu Rashid, is a Palestinian with a Dutch passport, who often poses as a human rights activist in the Netherlands. In truth and in fact, he is the principal representative of Hamas in Holland, having previously managed its Al-Aqsa Foundation in the Netherlands; he was also named as a participant in the Holy Land Foundation, in the Federal case in the United States. Both of these entities were sanctioned by OFAC for terrorist financing activities. Rashed's latest vehicle is the Foundation Palestinian Platform for Human Rights and Solidarity. This individual is engaged in terrorist financing, not human rights. Rashed was one of the chief organizers of the Gaza Flotilla in 2010, and was detained by Israeli authorities for participating in the ill-fated effort to enter Gaza illegally by sea. He has close ties to the Syrian Government.

Amin Abu Rashed

Ornstein and Rashed have been associates since at least 2000, which makes me wonder whether Okke assisted in any fraudulent activities in Panama to fund Hamas. More recently, the pair became involved, jointly, in raising funds, purportedly for Palestinian refugees who fled Syria for Jordan, but their "charitable" activities soon morphed into a bogus generic Syrian refugee assistance project. This is a scheme to raise money for Hamas, which has had major cash flow problems, after Egypt closed down the Gaza smuggling tunnels, from which Hamas reportedly derived millions in taxes, paid by the tunnel operators/smugglers.

Inasmuch as Ornstein does not appear to have ever engaged in any lawful occupation, one must assume that only a small portion of the contributions that Ornstein and Rashed collect ever make it into the hands of refugees, and that the bulk of the money ends up in Hamas bank accounts. Ornstein has often publicly stated that he has a relationship with radical terrorist groups; here is the proof that he does.

Inasmuch as he is a wanted fugitive in Panama, where he normally resides, and has been sentenced to 38 months in prison in that country, and reportedly faces ten years in a pending criminal case, Ornstein is presently living in the Netherlands. He is believed to have been to Syria at least three times recently, as a guest of the Assad regime, complete with government permits, and reportedly traveled there each time with Rashed; He even admits all this on his website.

Okke Ornstein, currently Okke Van Ooijen

I cannot understand how Dutch law enforcement can permit these two terrorist financiers to operate openly in the Netherlands. Ornstein reportedly has an open INTERPOL Red Notice, to detain him, from Panama. Rashed, as a Dutch national, is acting as an agent for a designated terrorist organization. I hope that they don't wait for a terrorist act to take place in Holland before they shut this cell down.

HAMAS REOPENS UNREGISTERED PANAMANIAN FUND TO RAISE MONEY IN EUROPE

Abi Amin Rashid with Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh

Amin Abu Rashid who is reputed to be Hamas' most senior terrorist fundraiser in Europe, and the Dutch national Okke Ornstein, who has a long record of felony white-collar crime activities in Panama and elsewhere, have reopened Ornstein's defunct Tulip Fund in Europe, with the alleged goal of selling gold to support Palestinian housing in the Gaza Strip and in Syria. They are operating their fraud from the Netherlands, where Ornstein has been hiding from judgment creditors.

Panama's National Securities Commission, back in 2002, issued an alert against Tulip Universal Project SA d/b/a The Tulip Fund, as it had no license in Panama to market securities, and constituted a fraud upon the investing public. Ornstein, who was fraudster Mark Harris' general manager, was banned from ever entering Panama, upon pain of further incarceration, after his third felony conviction there. He has since picket up a fourth conviction in the Netherlands, as well as a $5m money judgment. We have previously reported upon his activities in the Republic of Panama, including his time spent in prison.

The Tulip Fund operators claim that it is selling gold coins, for $1000 each, with the profits to go towards rebuilding homes in the Palestinian Territory of Gaza, and in Syria, where a large number of Palestinians reside. They have not disclosed the actual value of the coins they are selling to the public.

Given that funds raised by the pair, supposedly for Hamas, were later diverted to Ornstein's personal use, and Hamas was seeking Ornstein for that money, one must assume that the resurrected Tulip Fund is also a scam, and investors should avoid it at all costs. Do not respond to solicitations or emails with any reference to the Tulip Fund. Ornstein is currently facing additional prison time in the Netherlands; Rashid's location is unknown.