International Parental Kidnapping

PLEASE HELP THIS MOTHER REGAIN HER KIDNAPPED CHILDREN

UPDATE AS OF 12/12/2022:

To date, the Go Fund Me efforts have raised over $36,000 dollars of an initially conservative estimate of $50,000 needed for this case. That amount has now been completely consumed by legal fees, hiring of investigators in Egypt, international travel and lodging expenses in Egypt, and the costs of local transportation vehicles and drivers. The mother and her family are pleading for additional donations to keep the momentum going as described below. It is estimated that an additional $50,000 is still needed to complete this challenging case. It is not likely that there will be a surplus, but if there is it would help this family’s transition back into life in America after a successful recovery. The additional amount sought was determined by further financial analysis of investigative and legal work necessary and necessary expenditures to date.

The following update is from the mother of the children, Dahlia -- a pseudonym to protect her identity:

“When my children were taken from me over a year ago by my ex-husband, I did not know what to do or where to turn. When my father contacted a retired FBI Agent-friend, the FBI quickly entered the case. They told us, however, that they had no jurisdiction in Egypt, where we had learned he had taken my three children.

The FBI told me that hundreds (and possibly thousands) of cases had been similarly perpetrated by Egyptian men and men from other middle eastern countries. Little did I realize how complex things would become and how expensive it would be to deal with them. I also learned that so many of these cases go unresolved, especially in Egypt, because most of the mothers of the other kidnapped children had neither the funds nor other means to recover their children. I have decided that for my own mental and physical well-being and those of my children, I must do all within my power not to let that happen to them.

In the few brief telephone conversations, my “ex” has allowed me to have with the children, their tearful pleas clearly indicate they have already suffered tremendous psychological trauma at the hands of their father and his family. For the sake of my children and many others, these horrors need to be stopped.”

“The FBI did not hesitate to file Federal international kidnapping charges against my “ex” and referred his case to INTERPOL, making him an international fugitive. As they had advised us, they have no investigative jurisdiction in Egypt or the middle east, and we would have to depend upon privately-obtained resources to do the necessary investigative work there on the case. I have had to give up my teaching position to pursue the recovery of my children on a full-time basis. I have neither any income nor my share of the community property savings my “ex” and I had saved during the marriage, which the California courts had awarded me my 50% share. He took my whole life from me when he kidnapped the children and took our only savings.

My “ex” constantly abused me physically, mentally, and verbally. He and his cruelly overbearing mother had often talked about their belief that the children and I needed to come live in Egypt and that the kids should be raised as Egyptians. Little did I realize they were actually very serious about this!”

“I have also been blessed with a mixed team of American and Egyptian lawyers and private investigators working to find my children and bring them home to America. Following a year of pro bono work by our team leader (a former FBI field executive), who helped us create this Go Fund Me page, and who has spent the past three-plus months on the ground in Egypt without charging any fees, we have just obtained a partial, but significant, interim victory in my acquiring legal custody of the children under Egyptian law. We have also developed some marginal cooperation from the Egyptian police, even though such parental kidnappings are not viewed as crimes under Egyptian law.”

“The team has located several residences in Cairo where they suspect the children are or have been, held hostage in near total isolation from normal life, including a tightly controlled lock-down school situation. The team’s efforts to recover the children from my “ex” and his criminal family in Cairo have been extensive, but unsuccessful, to date.”

“The team also obtained a rare (a first-of-its-kind per the FBI) order from the Prosecutor’s Office in Cairo confirming that, under Egyptian law, I have full custodial rights to my children – and my “ex” has forfeited any such rights by failing to heed the Prosecutor’s order to appear to defend his kidnapping and holding of the children. He also has refused to plead his case for custody of the children and has gone into hiding. As a result, he has lost any right to make that claim in the future.”

“The simple truth is that my “ex” continues to be an international fugitive being sought by the FBI and INTERPOL, and it is obvious he fears arrest if he were to appear as ordered by Egyptian legal authorities. Regrettably, Egypt refuses to recognize INTERPOL nor any criminal charges issued by other countries against Egyptian citizens, and it refuses to honor the Hague Convention Treaty on returning internationally kidnapped children. Nevertheless, our team has miraculously obtained some limited judicial and police cooperation in this matter. My “ex’s” refusals are also indicative of the extensive narcissism and abject cowardice that he has exhibited by fleeing the U.S. with the children and all of our life savings rather than face American courts in my divorce actions, or contesting the subsequent prosecutorial actions we have now achieved in Egypt, all at tremendous financial and emotional expense.”

“I am begging for your help to bring my children back to our extended family and me, including aging grandparents who fear never seeing them again. Miriam will turn 15 years of age in March, 2023, and, under Egyptian family law and customs, she is at risk of being transferred into her father’s custody. Thus, time is of the essence!”

The latest partial victories in Egypt would not have been possible without the support of all of you who have donated to Dahlia’s battle to bring her children back home to the U.S. But, the Go Fund Me financial resources previously raised have now been totally surpassed by expenses in Egypt. Thus, Dahlia and her family are pleading for additional donations to keep the investigative momentum and recovery efforts going which we cannot further describe here for security reasons.

While the recent Egyptian court order gave Dahlia full legal custody of her children under Egyptian Family Law, the daunting challenge still facing her is to physically recover the children.

Based on expenses to date, it is estimated that an additional $50,000 will still be needed to complete this challenging case.

Fortunately, Dahlia’s team in Cairo is headed by a retired Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the Los Angeles FBI Office, who has now spent nearly three months in Cairo on a non-fee pro bono basis assembling locally-contracted legal and investigative teams and directing their investigative and child recovery activities in Egypt. As Dahlia pointed out above, the team has achieved remarkable, though limited, success in Cairo in obtaining the Egyptian legal recognition of Dahlia’s custody rights and establishing, through extensive investigative measures, evidence of the father’s neglect of the children in Egypt and of his family holding them as hostages under lock-down conditions.

The passage of time is making this matter more critical on almost a daily basis, just as it does the dire need for the raising of additional funding needed to bring this horrific matter to a successful closure by the recovery of the children.

UPDATE AS OF 8/1/2022:

It is now almost one year since these three beautiful kids were kidnapped by their estranged (now divorced) Middle Eastern father and taken to his native country (Egypt). The location of the father and children in Egypt is still unknown. The Courts revoked his parental rights during the divorce proceedings. He willfully committed several felony violations of State, Federal, and International kidnapping laws. Additionally, he absconded with the combined life savings jointly earned and saved by him and his American ex-wife, leaving her financially destitute in Los Angeles. She is now living with family members.

The FBI has obtained International Parental Kidnapping Act (IPKA) charges against him, and Interpol is now actively involved in the matter. He continues to offer to negotiate the release of the kids but makes it contingent upon impossible nebulous demands and avoids any direct with the mother. Clearly, he is seeking to obfuscate the situation to delay any resolution. The FBI has no jurisdiction in Egypt, and thus cannot conduct any onsite or other direct investigation in Egypt, nor arrest the father there. Making matters more complicated, Egypt is a country which does not honor Interpol's authority and Egyptian police forces observe Sharia-related laws which favor the father.

Their American mother, a very patriotic U.S. citizen, converted to Islam when she married the father 15 years ago and is very active in her mosque, while the father was never truly active in the Islamic faith to any noticeable degree, and only created a relatively transparent facade of being an observant Muslim. Members and leaders of her mosque have been supportive of the mother.

The children are in sporadic telephonic contact with their mother under the apparent strict control of their father and his domineering mother. They clearly listen in on every phone call as evidenced by the children avoiding answering questions about where they are living. At times, if they start to answer such questions, the phone call is abruptly cut off. It is evident, however, that they are suffering mentally and emotionally as they keep tearfully pleading to come home to their mother. Psychologists experienced with such situations advise that the longer their situation continues, the greater the psychological damage to them.

The only legal route which offers any hope of recovery of the children and their repatriation to the U.S. is to enter into custodial litigation in Egyptian and Islamic courts in Egypt -- an expensive proposition. Such efforts are only in the initial stages and can drag on for several years. According to legsal experts, the best estimates of the total costs of such litigation is in excess of US$50,000. , Through many benevolent friends, family, and sympathetic donors, a total of US$35,000 has been raised through Go Fund Me (to donate, click on Go Fund Me site below). Those donations are being held in a trust account by a respected pro-bono law firm in Southern California and are under the strict no-fee oversight of a retired senior FBI Special Agent and will be used only for this matter.

Financial assistance to the mother for the Egyptian litigation and her required travel to Egypt for that purposes are deeply appreciated, both by the mother and her family.

ORIGINAL GO FUND ME POSTING:

I am posting this appeal to help a mother and her three children:

In September 2021, the three minor children (names withheld), who were living with their mother in Southern California, were abducted by their father and taken to his native country in the Middle East. This happened during the parents’ divorce proceedings, in violation of California court orders and U.S. laws. The judge gave the mother full custody of the children, and ordered a return of her share of the community property, including their life savings, but that is not easily enforced half a world away. The father stopped paying court-ordered support in 2021.

The children are now in a difficult and harmful environment in a Middle Eastern country and have communicated many pleas to their mother to bring them home. The father and his family have a history of abuse of the children. Studies show that children remaining in these situations for longer periods of time are likely to suffer physical and psychological harm.

Before fleeing the U.S., the father wired all of the family’s financial assets from the U.S., leaving the mother destitute. She is living with family and has an income that barely covers her expenses, but has no financial resources, they were all taken.

The FBI is involved in this matter and is conducting an International Parental Kidnapping Act investigation. However, because of the country involved, they have almost no jurisdiction for recovering the children. The mother is working with expert advisors to get the children back through all legal means. This requires foreign lawyers and consultants, travel and other expenses, and she does not have the resources for this. Go Fund Me is her only viable option right now.

Please help if you can. Your donation will go through Go Fund Me into a legal trust fund held by U.S. lawyers volunteering to help the mother. You may verify this by contacting the retired FBI official who is volunteering his time to work with the family and the FBI.

Any amount of support will help, and your prayers will help too. Thank you.