Free Exercise Defense Rejected In False Charitable Exemption Prosecution

In United States v. Mubayyid, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 16556 (D MA, March 8, 2007), a Massachusetts federal district court refused to dismiss an indictment of two men charged with fraudulently obtaining a charitable exemption under § 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code for Care International, Inc. Prosecutors allege that defendants concealed the fact that Care financed and promoted Islamic holy war (jihad) and holy warriors (mujahideen). Rejecting defendants' free exercise of religion claims, the court said that it saw "no reason why providing a complete and truthful description of the organization's planned activities in order to obtain tax-exempt status--whether or not those activities are religiously motivated--inhibits or substantially burdens the exercise of religious freedom."