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ISIS suspects had connections in Philly, Dover

A man accused by federal authorities of attempting to funnel fighters and financial aid to the Islamic State had connections to Philadelphia and nearby Delaware.

In this courtroom drawing, defendant Akhror Saidakmetov, left; an interpreter, center; and defendant Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev appear at federal court in New York on terrorism charges Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. (Jane Rosenberg/AP Photo)
In this courtroom drawing, defendant Akhror Saidakmetov, left; an interpreter, center; and defendant Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev appear at federal court in New York on terrorism charges Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015. (Jane Rosenberg/AP Photo)Read moreAP

A man accused by federal authorities of attempting to funnel fighters and financial aid to the Islamic State had connections to Philadelphia and nearby Delaware.

Up until August, Abror Habibov lived in a garden-apartment complex on Greenway Square in Dover and operated a cellphone repair kiosk at Dover Mall, according to police and public records.

The business was one of a string of kitchenware and repair kiosks that Habibov, 30, ran at malls in Philadelphia and other cities along the East Coast, according to court filings.

But he left little trace of his work in Philadelphia.

Police Commissioner Charles H. Ramsey said he had no information about Habibov or his local activities.

"I was not given any kind of briefing," he said. "He had a connection in Philadelphia somehow. Nothing that would indicate he was involved in any kind of terrorist activity, that I'm aware of."

No businesses was registered under Habibov's name in Philadelphia, according to Licenses and Inspections Commissioner Carlton Williams.

Dover Police Cpl. Mark A. Hoffman said Thursday that the FBI had given his department "a heads-up" this year or last that it was "conducting operations" around the city and at Dover Mall.

Hoffman, the department's public information officer, would not say exactly when the FBI operations started. The bureau did not alert Dover police ahead of Wednesday's arrest of Habibov in Jacksonville, Fla., he said. Two other men were arrested in New York.

One of Habibov's codefendants, Akhror Saidakhmetov, 19, originally from Kazakhstan, worked for Habibov in Philadelphia and other cities, according to the criminal complaint.

The businesses in Dover and Chesapeake, Va., were called iCellFix. Federal officials said other kiosks were in unidentified malls in Jacksonville; Savannah, Ga.; and Virginia Beach, Va.

Court records show that Habibov lived for at least part of 2014 at Dover Country Club and that he was evicted last summer for nonpayment of rent, about the time federal agents began to investigate his codefendants.

The small claims court case was filed against him in August and was scheduled for trial in September. But Habibov failed to show up for court and a default judgment of $1,671 was automatically entered against him.

A spokeswoman for Bell Partners Inc., which owns the apartment complex, confirmed that Habibov had lived there.

Agents run standard credit and backgrounds checks on prospective tenants. That Habibov was able to sign a lease suggests that no red flags were raised in that process.

Habibov, Saidakhmetov, and Abdurasul Hasanovich Juraboev, 24, were arrested Wednesday on charges of plotting to help the Islamic State wage war against the United States. All three live in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Saidakhmetov and Juraboev - who, like Habibov, is from Uzbekistan - allegedly planned to travel to Syria to join the Islamic State.

Habibov, whose visa to the United States had expired, is accused of helping fund Saidakhmetov's efforts to join the Islamic State after his mother took away his passport to try to prevent him from traveling, officials said.

All three are jailed without bail.

215-854-2541 @MichaelMatza1