NY Firm's Credit Cards Used In Hamas Leader Hit

As expected, the investigation into a Hamas leader's assassination in Dubai now involves U.S.-based credit card companies. One of those companies is Payoneer, a firm on Park Avenue which has a research and development center in Tel Aviv. The AP reports that it called Payoneer's Tel Aviv office and "got a recording listing extensions, but when these were pressed, there was only dead air."

Many of the prepaid credit cards used to pay for airfare and hotel rooms in the elaborate killing of Mahmoud al-Mabhouh were issued by Metabank, an Iowa-based bank, which got them from Payoneer. According to the AP, Payoneer CEO Yuval Tal was identified in a 2006 Fox News interview "as a former member of the Israeli special forces" who provided commentary on the war between Israel and Hezbollah. Tal said, "It's a war that [Israel] cannot lose... The Israelis have to win this war. It's something that the Israelis knew for many, many years, and I think now the world is understanding better what is going on." Payoneer, which has other Israeli ties and had previously said it was cooperating with the investigation, now tells the AP there's "no further comment."

It is suspected that Mossad was behind the murder. Dubai's police chief Lt. Gen. Dahi Khalfan Tamim, who now says there are 27 suspects in the hit, ridiculed the hitmen and hitwomen seen in the surveillance tape, "The mistake they made was that even the disguise was primitive, the ’70s style. ... If they want a training course in disguise, we would be happy to oblige." Also interesting: Reuters' article on why Dubai was a "perfect" place for an assassination.

Contact the author of this article or email tips@gothamist.com with further questions, comments or tips.

By Jen Chung in News on March 9, 2010 4:10 PM

Comments [rss]

The Edge

i c wat u did ther

Doctor Memory

Really, he's making fun of their disguises after they waltzed in, made a fool of his organization, and took out their target with no collateral damage?

"Boy, those 9/11 pilots... they sure had crappy cover stories! I can't believe anyone fell for that! Oh wait..."

jpeditor

"It is suspected that Mossad was behind the murder"

Really? Hamas is pointing the finger at the PA, the PA suspects the Saudis and Syrians. And Dubai may have killed him themselves before he talked to Mossad and spilled the beans on arab spy networks working freely in Dubai.

(think thats implausible? the SON of the HEAD of Hamas has just surfaced as a Christian convert now living in the U.S. and he now admits he was spying for Israel for years).

Get with the program.

A SCHMUCK was taken out, a schmuck who smuggled TONS of explosives from Iran to Gaza so that Hamas could hide behind women and children and fire THOUSANDS of rockets at Israeli civilians AFTER Israel left Gaza.

This POS would have been the highest up in the chain of smuggling dirty nuke materiel from Iran to Gaza.

He NEEDED killing.

And YES, since "interpol" just watched him for years and did nothing, if Israel DID do it, they had EVERY right to go across borders and take out this trash.

Anyone who defends this POS is a supporter of Hamas terrorists.

PS- where are all the gothamist jihadi boys on this one?

500+ Christian women and children were just slaughtered by the religion of pieces in Nigeria

Can't someone here find a way to blame Joos/Israel for the that? Are you all so busy memorializing poor Mabhous?

The Edge

Apparently being anti-Israel (I personally have no particular love for them) is the "in" thing now.

I've known people for awhile who never gave a shit about all that stuff all of a sudden start proclaiming that Israel is evil and Palestine is good.

Really weird.

snickerdoodle

Is there any way for the rest of the peaceful world to withdraw from this ancient third world war and just let the Israelis and Arabs duke it out all by themselves?

CR

No, it's important that we stay involved so the Palestinians can further delude themselves by demanding something they'll never get, and letting their own leaders murder and oppress them, to say nothing of robbing their own people blind.

Gotham Extremist

"successfully eliminated a really bad man in a country run by bad men"

Is this taken from a kindergarten school book?

jaycjay

No, from a George W. Bush statement.

jpeditor

And yours must be from the ISM / Hamas Manual of style!

DanielJ

The guy was a top Hamas commander- a terrorist organization. Give credit where credit is due. This was a GOOD thing.

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

You mean a lawless world where Israeli hit squads are free to commit murder anywhere, any time. Yeah that’s sounds great.

What could go wrong. Oh wait, what if people consider that terrorism?! Then it would be “legal” to murder people wherever they lived by simply citing that they were terrorists. We would find ourselves in a lawless world of “legal” murder and totalitarian cross-border surveillance.

Holy smokes Daniel, you aint thought this through!

The Edge

Any comments on Daniel Pearl?

CR

Of course it's not legal dimwit - that's why they call it the "secret service". Dubai can go apeshit if they like, but they're only angry that it occured on their soil and NOT that some terrorist shitbag was killed.

I'm dying to hear your thoughts on the legality of the Obama administration's current "occupation" of Iraq and Afghanistan...

Gotham Extremist

hence the CREDIT card company

longacre

Reading the ridiculous reporting of this incident, you'd think Mossad murdered Captain Kangaroo in the middle of Sesame Place using an infant suicide bomber or some other similarly atrocious crime against humanity. Silly me, I thought they successfully eliminated a really bad man in a country run by bad men.

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

you're so predictible. ignore the facts and rally round the flag whatevers said. how boring.

you say 'in a country run by bad men'

dubai? The most developed country in the ME. Why are they bad? Cause they're Arabs?

What distorted prisim do you see the world through that lets you see dubai as being run by bad men whilst you defend israel? What countries has dubai bombed? what un resolutions are they ignoring?

please you're a troll, you just dont know it.

as for the guy they strangled. who decides he's a bad man? who decides is okay to break a bunch of laws to go into another country and kill him?

oh thats a secret. I see. That doesnt sound like a world I want to live in. that sounds a lot like 'terrorism' to me. I hope our shatty goverment is on it, as it seems like a US bank is complicent in terrorism. Thats supposed to be illegal right?

CR

Who decided he was a bad man? He did you idiot. He's the one who killed those soldiers (or is the blood of Israeli soldiers somehow worthless to you?) Did he give them due process before he killed them? No, he didn't. So he got what he gave. He was a worthless piece of shit who the Israelis wanted dead - and it sounds like he made a lot of enemies with the Palestinians, and other Arab countries as well.

CR

So basically you have a problem with every secret service organization that ever existed. Oh sure, that sounds reasonable...

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

Sigh.

Secretly sending nearly 30 people into another country in order to murder someone, violates all precepts of a civilized society, as well as American federal laws prohibiting support for international terrorism.

That you even attempt to defend it shows you’re living in a fantasy world where no matter what you feel you feel you have to unconditionally support Israel.

I suggest you stop deluding yourself and look at things objectively.

be well brother,

The Edge

Please enlighten us with your (obviously) insider knowledge of the workings of Dubai.

Especially all those links with Dubai and the Bush family, for starters.

BDS=(Boycott.Divest.Sanction)

whats to enlighten.

look up their ranking on the development index. something like 33 out of 180. they'll be an NYU campus next door.

http://nyuad.nyu.edu/

you folks who think the ME are just people in the desert need to travel more. I feel sad for you, living in a fish bowl like you do.

Now why dont you tell me why they're 'bad'.