New charges for NY man accused of aiding Islamic State group

NEW YORK – A New York City man charged with trying to aid the Islamic State group was indicted on new charges.

Acting U.S. Attorney Joon H. Kim announced a superseding indictment Thursday charging Saddam Mohamed Raishani with helping a co-conspirator travel abroad to fight for the militant group in the fall of 2015.

Raishani’s lawyer, assistant federal defender Sabrina Shroff, declined to comment.

The home health care aide from the Bronx was arrested in June as he tried to board a plane at Kennedy Airport to go to Syria. Authorities said Raishani wanted to join the militant group after helping another man get there.

“Raishani allegedly acted on his own desire to wage violent jihad, planning to leave his family and life in New York City for the battlefields of the Middle East,” Kim said at the time.

Authorities said Raishani’s plans were foiled because he unwittingly contacted a person who was a confidential source working at the direction of law enforcement.

That person, authorities said, introduced him to an undercover law enforcement officer who posed as someone who also wanted to fight for the Islamic State group.

“Fortunately through the outstanding work of law enforcement, Raishani’s travel plans were detected and thwarted before he was able to inflict any further harm,” Kim said in a release.