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"Routine credit check uncovers “Son of Saddam Hussein” in Arcata – Sept. 5, 2006
By Nanette Kelley
Eye Correspondent
On August 10, after his family was refused a home loan, an Arcata man was mortified to find the phrase
“son of Saddam Hussein” included on his credit report.
“I looked at it and couldn’t believe my eyes!” Said the Arcata man who asked that only his middle name, Hassan, be divulged.
The routine credit check, pulled by the Arcata family’s prospective mortgage company, lists the alleged alias under the section titled
“Borrower Bureau Alert Information:”
“HASSAN ALIASES: AL-TIKRITI, ALI SADDAM HU.S.SEIN DOB: 1980 ALT (ALTERNATE) DOB: 1983; POB: IRAQ; NATL: IRAQI; SON OF SADDAM HU.S.SEIN AL-TIKRITI…”
A partial name match to the individual listed on the Arcata man’s credit report, “Hassan” is the man’s middle name, but any likeness to the description of Hussein’s son ends there.
“It was almost surreal, why just because of my middle name, it’s not even similar, it’s out of total ignorance,” said Hassan, who explained the alleged alias is full of discrepancies: Hassan who was born in the U.S. in the 1940s, is not of Iraqi descent and has never had contact with nor visited the Middle East, believes his middle name is the only possible basis for the information listed on his credit report.
“I ran home to show my wife and called the FBI, and attempted to make a police report for fear of stolen identity. The police officer indicated this was part of the patriot act or “big brother” and filing a police report would resolve nothing at this point,” said Hassan who indicated the situation has put the family’s plan to purchase a home on hold as they attempt to resolve the situation. The family explained may even loose a chance at Arcata’s first-time homebuyer’s program if they can’t get a loan for the balance in the next few months.
“I am so tired of constantly having a sense that we are not good enough to co-exist with others on this Earth; that everything is extra hard and an extra struggle for us and I am guilty of letting some fear dictate to me when I wake up in the wee morning hours reflecting on the hate in peoples eyes and fear they will target our family,” said Hassan’s wife.
According to Shirin Sinnar from the San Francisco branch of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights,
credit bureaus are listing the names of known terrorists on the credit reports of unsuspecting everyday, average citizens across the country. Sinnar indicated the names are harvested from the U.S. Treasury Watchlist by credit bureaus and other financial institutions.
“The credit reporting agencies are now scanning this list and putting watchlist information on the reports even if it’s a partial match,” said Sinnar.
Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons
According to the U.S. Department of the Treasury website, the Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), an office of the Treasury, “administers and enforces economic and trade sanctions based on U.S. foreign policy and national security goals against targeted foreign countries, terrorists, international narcotics traffickers, and those engaged in activities related to the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.”
The OFAC also maintains the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons (SDN) list. Entities named on this master list are from U.S. sanctions programs such as those against Iraq, Iran, narcotics traffickers or Cuba.
“The person named on Hassan’s credit report has the designation [IRAQ2] after the name, meaning that this person (Saddam Hussein’s son) is on the watch list because of the government’s sanctions against members of the former Iraqi régime.” Said Sinnar who explained that the Arcata man is not actually on the Watch list,
but because his middle name, Hassan, happens to be an alias for Saddam Hussein’s son, the credit-reporting agency listed the partial-match alias automatically.
“Computer software programs are scanning the lists and putting watch list names on credit reports even if it’s only a partial match; so if there is a mistake the credit bureaus can just say it was computer error.” Said Sinnar. She continued, “But credit reporting agencies have a legal obligation to have procedures in place to ensure the accuracy of credit reports.”
By Executive Order
The SDN list is updated regularly by the OFAC and contains thousands of names of individuals and organizations, including Saddam Hussein, Osama Bin Laden and over 160 instances of the common middle-eastern name, “Hassan.” Most names on the OFAC list are there because of
Executive orders signed by President Bush in the years since 9-11 or because of other government antiterrorism programs.
“The lists were short before 9-11 and not really enforced,” said Sinnar.
Financial institutions have great incentive to pay close attention to the list. Criminal penalties for violating the SDN list provisions under the Executive Orders range up to 10 years in prison, $500,000 in corporate fines and $250,000 in individual fines. In addition, civil penalties of up to $11,000 per violation may be imposed administratively.
“It is only illegal for institutions to do business with the person actually on the OFAC list, not with Hassan,” said Sinnar who explained.
“The information does not have to be off his credit report before a business can transact with Hassan. As long as they have enough information to distinguish him from the person named on his report (which should be easy enough, given that there is nothing in common besides one part of the name!), they can do business with him. In fact, businesses do not need to call the OFAC hotline to distinguish him since there is enough distinguishing information (date of birth, place of birth, full name, etc.) that they can access without calling the hotline.”
The OFAC website is very clear on this issue.
“If you are not the individual on the SDN list, the person checking your credit should disregard the OFAC alert.”
In regards to Hassan, Sinnar said, “Unless there is an exact match, this should not be on his credit report.”
No universal method for Watch list scans
“Part of the problem is that the government does not provide guidance,” said Sinnar.
According to the U.S. Treasury website, “Before issuing a credit report, they (the credit reporting agencies) use special interdiction software developed by the private sector to determine if a credit applicant is on the SDN list. T
his software matches the credit applicant’s name and other information to the individuals on the SDN list. If there is a potential match, the credit bureaus are placing a “red flag” or alert on the report.”
Because the OFAC is not a bank regulator, there is not a single compliance program suitable for every financial institution to scan the lists. And the frequency and method of running an OFAC scan must be guided by the internal policies and procedures of the individual financial institutions.
However, although the government leaves the design of these programs to the private sector, it warns the institutions of the consequences if their chosen compliance program fails to identify a target account, “Keep in mind, however, that if your bank fails to identify and block a target account (of a terrorist, for example), there could be “real world” consequences such as a transfer of funds or other valuable property to an SDN, an enforcement action against your bank, and negative publicity.”
Anyone at the mercy of compliance software
Troubles with SDN list partial name matches don’t always come from erroneous credit reports. In addition to financial institutions, potential employers, landlords and other businesses can run a name check on the SDN list, and most could do this, according to Sinnar, “with very little understanding of what the list means.”
Sinnar explained, “Some companies themselves have programs in place to check the list directly through a software program.”
According to Sinnar, Bridger Insight is probably one of the most popular OFAC compliance software companies used in the U.S.. Bridger’s website indicates the majority of the top U.S. banks and also many retail businesses use their software programs for procedures such as individual and batch screening of customers for watchlist screening and politically exposed person (PEP) data searches among other things.
However, according to the Treasury Department website, the software itself is a mere compliance aid and not to be used as a positive identification for SDN persons by the business sector. The website states, “It (the measure used to ensure compliance) is merely a reminder to the person checking your credit that he or she should verify whether you are the individual on the SDN list by comparing your information to the OFAC information.”
Nationwide problem Sinnar pointed out the problem the Arcata man has with his routine credit check is not an isolated incident, but is something that has been happening across the country.
A couple in Sacramento attempting to get an in-house loan for a treadmill had to wait for their new piece of exercise equipment while they were “investigated.” According to Sinnar, the Wells Fargo agent handling the loan stressed concern to the store clerk because of the primary’s first name, Hussein. The agent implied that they needed more time before the man could be cleared, because Saddam Hussein’s name is on the watch list; although, the customer’s full name was not. The couple was told they would have to wait 72 hours for a loan clearance even though this American citizen’s first name was the only similarity to the former Iraqi dictator.
In another case, after claiming to have suffered religious discrimination and harassment at a car dealership allegedly spurred by a reference of Usama Bin Ladin on his credit report, an African-American Muslim named Muhammad filed a civil rights suit for “Unlawful religious discrimination in a place of public accommodation” against TransUnion the credit-reporting agency responsible for placing the terrorist’s information on his credit report.
Kamran Memon, the civil rights attorney who attempted to bring Muhammad’s case before the Illinois Department of Human Rights said, “The Department of Human Rights dismissed the discrimination case on the grounds of lack of jurisdiction. The Department said TransUnion is not a “place of public accommodation” under Illinois law.”
And people with names rooted in the Middle East are not the only ones affected.
“It’s happening a lot in the Latino community because the Treasury Department list includes many Cuban and Colombian names because of sanctions against Cuba and narcotics traffickers. We’ve received calls from individuals with common Latino names who had problems buying a home or withdrawing money from a bank,” said Sinnar.
However Sinnar lamented about the Arcata family’s case, “Worst story I’ve heard.” She said. “Its even more compelling than some of the others.”
How does one remove the name of a terrorist from their credit report?
U.S. Treasury spokeswoman Molly Millerwise offered this information, “For information on being positive on the OFAC list, or getting it off your credit report, there’s materials online. You can specifically go to treasury.gov/ofac.”
In general, information on the Treasury Department website indicates a consumer has the right under the Fair Credit Reporting Act to request the removal of incorrect information on his/her credit report and to accomplish this, consumers should contact the credit reporting agency or bureau that issued the credit report.
However, according to Hassan, after having followed the Treasury’s procedure, the credit-reporting agency that had placed the information on his report referred the couple back to OFAC. Hassan said the credit reporting agent told him there was nothing that they could do.
Exact number of cases unknown
The Lawyer’s Committee for Civil Rights has heard of increasing numbers of people being denied business opportunities or people receiving requests for additional documentation because their names are similar to SDN listings. As a result, a year ago this August, Shirin Sinnar submitted a letter to the Department of the Treasury under the Freedom of Information Act requesting the numbers, including the distribution of calls based on industry and the number and nature of inquiries from companies/ individuals about a credit report stating that the individual may be on a watch list.In the request,
Sinnar claims, “the screening procedures used by companies to comply with government regulations frequently create practical difficulties and stigma for the individuals involved.”
The Lawyer’s Committee has yet to receive the documentation requested.
No escape from profiling
Hassan’s wife explained, ironically, they had moved their family to northern California several years ago in an attempt to escape the racism they suffered back east because of her husband’s Middle-Eastern decent. She said, “But our family had healed and all came together, we looked past the ignorance and focused on rebuilding our lives; then, 9-11.”
The couple explained. Less than two weeks before 9-11 while working at a job in Arcata, Hassan was informed of an impending pay-raise and extended hours. However, two days after 9-11, the story changed. Hassan said his boss fired him with the added comment, “I don’t like the way you look behind the counter.”
“I am trying not to internalize this, it is just this feeling of my stomach being twisted in a knot. The disappointment on my children’s faces and in my son's voice when we say we may not be able to buy a house right now. We have been working towards this vision for so long. We had hoped to have a house big enough to have my 21-year-old move back here from Michigan so he can live here rent free and go to school,” said Hassan’s wife.
The San Francisco branch of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights, a nationwide, nonprofit organization formed in 1963 at the request of President John F. Kennedy to involve the private bar in providing legal services to address racial discrimination, is representing Hassan and his family on this issue and investigating legal options under the Fair Credit Reporting Act and other laws."
