Highlights
– Canadian Tamil accused of raising funds for LTTE in Vancouver
– Non-profit organization allegedly financing LTTE through fundraisers and extortion practices
– More LTTE linkages likely to be uncovered in Canada’s large expatriate Tamil community in the long-term
Canadian police recently arrested a Toronto resident on charges of raising funds for the banned international terrorist organization, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The suspect, 44-year old Prapaharan Thambithurai, is accused of soliciting the funds from members of the Sri Lankan community in Vancouver, British Columbia. The arrest coincides with a multi-year terrorist financing investigation regarding the non-profit organization, World Tamil Movement (WTM). The WTM claims to conduct humanitarian relief services for ethnic Tamils living in Canada. However, the Royal Canadian Mountain Police (RCMP) claim the organization is financing the LTTE through extortion practices and the selling of pro-independence Tamil merchandise such as CDs, flags and clothing.
This is Canada’s first arrest under the terrorist financing provision of the Anti-Terrorism Act (ATA), and if convicted, Thambithurai could serve a maximum 10-year sentence. It is unclear whether police are searching for other Tamils in relation to the case. However, the LTTE has a long history of preying on the sympathy of expatriate Tamils for donations. As Canada represents the home to the largest ethnic Tamil community in the world at more than 250,000 ethnic Tamils, it is likely that police will uncover similar illegal fundraising activities for the LTTE in the mid to long-term.
Investigating the WTM
The WTM claims to conduct humanitarian relief services for people in Sri Lanka and ethnic Tamils living in Canada. However, the Royal Canadian Mountain Police (RCMP) has been investigating WTM members and supporters in Vancouver, Montreal, and Toronto since 2003. According to police, the investigation has uncovered several signs that indicate linkages to the LTTE.
• Before the new Conservative government officially banned the LTTE in 2006, the RCMP Integrated National Security Enforcement Team (INSET) received intelligence that thousands of former LTTE rebels and supporters were openly active in raising funds in Canada for re-armament.
• A 2006 report by the Human Rights Watch found that as WTM fundraisers surveyed neighborhoods in London and Toronto, the LTTE and the WTM were often interchangeably used as the donation beneficiary. The report also noted that some individuals were threatened if they refused to offer donations.
• According to search warrant papers filed in provincial court in 2005, LTTE CDs, flags and a framed picture of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran decorated the Vancouver WTM office. The warrant papers also alleged that the WTM misappropriated Canadian $75,000 in tsunami relief donations to the LTTE.
• The RCMP alleges that the WTM organizes community events to sell books, CDs, flags, clothing, newspapers, pamphlets and videos to raise funds and funnel them back to the LTTE.
Despite substantial findings and subsequent allegations, authorities have failed to produce any charges. It remains unclear whether the charges laid on Thambithurai are related to the WTM investigation.
More Connections to Follow
A majority of the RCMP investigation is underway in Toronto, where truckloads of materials and correspondence related to fundraising were seized from the WTM headquarters. Still, the head of the Ontario chapter of WTM and several prominent Tamil community leaders in British Columbia continue to deny the allegations and state they have never heard of Thambithurai.
Although the investigation has not led to any convictions, counter-money laundering investigations could still uncover terrorist financing operations. In 2007, Canada’s federal agency, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), notified the RCMP and the Canadian Security Intelligence Service (CSIS) that the discovery of suspicious transactions to the tune of Canadian $209 million could expose possible terrorist financing operations. With roughly 200,000 Canadian Tamils living in the Toronto metropolitan area, the recent investigation suggests that authorities will likely uncover more LTTE financiers imbedded into Canadian society in the long-term.
