The FBI has arrested a San Antonio man on charges he lied to get into the United States and tried to get a sensitive Defense Department position.
Wissam Allouche, 44, appeared for an initial hearing Friday afternoon, and shook his head when U.S. Magistrate Judge Henry Bemporad read the charges leveled in a federal indictment. The judge ordered him held pending a bail hearing and his arraignment Tuesday.
“He allegedly tried to cover up his affiliation with Hezbollah,” said special agent Erik Vasys, spokesman for the FBI in San Antonio. “It is believed he was looking to secure a sensitive position with the U.S. government at some point.”
The indictment said Allouche had married a U.S. citizen and was going through the naturalization process. During that process, he reportedly lied when asked if he’d ever been a member of or associated with a terror organization, the indictment said.
The FBI’s Joint Terrorism Task Force alleges he was a fighter with the Amal militia in Lebanon in the early to mid-1980s.
After his release as an Israeli prisoner of war, he was made a commander of the Amal militia, who was notified about the group’s operations, the indictment said.
News reports at the time said Hezbollah was formed by religious members of the Amal movement.
In January 2009, the indictment said, he falsely said on his application forms that he and his wife were married and living together for the previous three years, when they had not lived together since May 2007 and they filed for divorce on Dec. 7, 2007.
Additionally, the indictment charges him with making a false statement on Oct. 14, 2009, on a questionnaire necessary to get a security clearance from the Defense Department: He allegedly claimed to have never participated in militias or paramilitary groups.
The indictment does not say what position he was applying for.
He could face up to 10 years in prison.