Congressman Keith Ellison (D-MN), a Muslim, traveled to Saudi Arabia to visit Mecca late last year to make the hajj pilgrimage as required under the tenets of Islam. This was a personal and private trip, Ellison claimed in a July 23rd letter to the Minnesota Star-Tribune. He reported to the House Ethics Committee that his trip to Mecca was funded by the Minnesota chapter of the Muslim American Society (MAS-MN), a non-profit organization.
Ellison's letter responded to a Star-Tribune report about the MAS-funding of his trip. The story also identified concern about how MAS-MN received "grants" totaling almost $900,000 from the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation, a subordinate entity of MAS-MN. The holding corporation collected state rent money for the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), a public charter school run by MAS-MN. The grants from the holding company to MAS-MN nearly equaled the amount it received in state rent money for 2006-07.
Minnesota corporate records, however, show that Minnesota Education Trust is located at the same St. Paul address as the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation. IRS non-profit tax returns for the Trust identified two organization officials. The president is listed as Asif Rahman. The other official is Asad Zaman.
The two men are listed in similar position on tax forms for the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation. Zaman also is listed as the executive director for the TIZA charter school on its tax forms. On all those tax returns, TIZA claimed to have no affiliation with any other organizations. It also claimed none of its organization officials shared a relationship with officials in any other organization. Yet another TIZA board member, Hesham Hussein, is also a corporate official of the Muslim American Society in Minnesota. Rahman and Zaman are officials of the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation and the Minnesota Education Trust. Rahman was previously identified as a local official of Islamic Relief, the charter school sponsor for TIZA. Read more ...
Ellison's letter responded to a Star-Tribune report about the MAS-funding of his trip. The story also identified concern about how MAS-MN received "grants" totaling almost $900,000 from the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation, a subordinate entity of MAS-MN. The holding corporation collected state rent money for the Tarek ibn Ziyad Academy (TIZA), a public charter school run by MAS-MN. The grants from the holding company to MAS-MN nearly equaled the amount it received in state rent money for 2006-07.
Minnesota corporate records, however, show that Minnesota Education Trust is located at the same St. Paul address as the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation. IRS non-profit tax returns for the Trust identified two organization officials. The president is listed as Asif Rahman. The other official is Asad Zaman.
The two men are listed in similar position on tax forms for the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation. Zaman also is listed as the executive director for the TIZA charter school on its tax forms. On all those tax returns, TIZA claimed to have no affiliation with any other organizations. It also claimed none of its organization officials shared a relationship with officials in any other organization. Yet another TIZA board member, Hesham Hussein, is also a corporate official of the Muslim American Society in Minnesota. Rahman and Zaman are officials of the MAS-MN Property Holding Corporation and the Minnesota Education Trust. Rahman was previously identified as a local official of Islamic Relief, the charter school sponsor for TIZA. Read more ...
Source: IPT Blog
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