> Ms Shahnaz was born in Pakistan and worked as a lab technician in the US.<p>I'm not american, though I spend some time in US, mostly in Maine. Every-time I hear this kind of stories, I can't help but thinking: you go through all that trouble to immigrate to US to build yourself a lot of opportunities for your life and all you end up doing is shit like these? while millions of people are waiting in line wishing for a better life? Same for anybody living an Europe who rushed to go live in the Caliphate... while people are fleeing these very places because of the insane violence... I can't understand this.
From the article:<p>"Prosecutors said that Ms Shahnaz obtained a Pakistani passport in July and booked a flight to Pakistan with a layover in Istanbul, intending to travel to Syria.<p>She was arrested at John F Kennedy airport carrying $9,500 in cash, just under the limit of $10,000 that a person can legally take out of the country without declaring the funds.<p>Searches of her electronic devices showed numerous searches for Islamic State-related material. "<p>Also the following:<p>"Prosecutors say she took out fraudulent loans of $85,000 (£63,000) in order to buy the bitcoin online."<p>How you take out a fraudulent loan? How can they know her intent from just a couple of searches? Lots of information missing from this article, and makes me think that this woman commited thoughtcrime rather than an actual crime...
> Her lawyer, Steve Zissou, said she was sending money overseas to help Syrian refugees.<p>> "What she saw made her devoted to lessening the suffering of a lot of the Syrian refugees and everything she does is for that purpose," Mr Zissou said outside the courthouse.<p>That’s a hell of a defense
The arrest on the verge of her alleged flight to Syria makes this sound very similar to the FBI undercover "terrorist" stings. She was doing nothing obviously wrong at the airport, so the arrest signals they were expecting her.
I get the sense that bitcoin, all these coins, are going the way of Tor: ostensibly an innocent channel. In fact, the dominant activity is foul in the extreme.