New York accountant pleads guilty to aiding Al Qaeda

An accountant in New York, who had dual United States and Australian citizenship, has pleaded guilty to providing material support to the Al Qeada.

Sabirhan Hasanoff, 36, was arrested in April 2010 in Dubai and charged with conspiracy to provide material support, including computer advice and technical assistance to the terror group.

Hasanoff, who lived in Brooklyn with his family, had graduated from a college in Manhattan and had previously worked as a senior manager at accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers. He faces up to 20 years in prison.

At a hearing in US District Court in Manhattan on Monday, Hasanoff told Judge Kimba Wood that he had helped al Qaeda between 2007 and 2010, during when he accepted $50,000 from an unidentified co-conspirator to carry out tasks for the terror network.

According to court papers, Hasanoff had been a group chief financial officer for a Dubai-based company for over three years before his arrest. He had travelled to Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Syria, Malaysia, Yemen and Oman.

"I agreed with other persons to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organisation," Hasanoff said in court. "The organisation was the Al Qaeda."

According to the indictment, Hasanoff performed tasks for the Al Qaeda in 2008. He met with a third co-conspirator around the same time and discussed joining the Al Qaeda.

United States attorney in Manhattan Preet Bharara said Hasanoff and his co-conspirators had sought to "modernise the Al Qaeda" with technological assistance.