The trial of a British businessman of Indian origin, Hemant Lakhani, is set to begin in November on the charges of trying to smuggle Russian shoulder-held missiles into the US for 'terrorists' and offering to get a 'radio-active' dirty bomb for them.
A federal judge in Newark, New Jersey, on Monday set November 3 as the start of Lakhani's trial. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 15 years imprisonment and a fine of $ 250,000.
His attorney Henry Killingerman objected to the date, contending that Lakhani deserves an early trial as he has already been in prison for more than eight months. By the time the trial starts, he would be in custody for 16 months.
Killingerman plans to submit a bail application for 68-year old Lakhani in the next few weeks.
The prosecution alleges that Lakhani told a person, who he thought belonged to a terrorist group, that the surface-to-
air missile could be 'used most effectively' to shoot down commercial airliners.
Lakhani allegedly tried to sell 200 missiles to what he thought were Somali terrorist groups for Jihad in the United States but insisted that they buy at least 50 for $ 85,000 each.
Killingerman said he was seeking to cast doubts on the credibility of Mohammed Habid Rehman who was seeking to buy the missile from Lakhani but was in effect cooperating with the government.
The defence contention is that Rehman used fraudulent business dealings to defraud people during the time he was cooperating with the government. They pleaded that Lakhani has no terrorist connections but was lured into the scheme by Rehman who had held out the prospect of making a lot of money.
What Lakhani did not know was that he was all the time dealing with intelligence agents. Lakhani had bought one missile from a Russian agent who posed as a disgruntled army person.
The Russian sold a dud to Lakhani and it was always under the control of intelligence agents during its journey to
the US.
Lakhani was arrested in Newark in August.
His co-accused, Moinuddeen Ahmed Hameed, an Indian citizen residing in Malaysia, pleaded guilty recently to conspiracy in operating an unlicensed money transmitting business, and will testify against Lakhani.
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