t5 b46 footnote materials 2 of 3 fdr- oig exhibit- rudi dekkers- testimony- new times article- cv-...

8/14/2019 T5 B46 Footnote Materials 2 of 3 Fdr- OIG Exhibit- Rudi Dekkers- Testimony- New Times Article- CV- Resume

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TestimonyH u f f m a nAv i a t i o nby CEO President RudiDekkers

On July 1st, 2000, Mohamed Atta and Marwan Alshehhi arrivedat Huffman

Aviationin Venice, Floridato inquireabout takingflying lessons. After a descriptionwas

given aboutour flying school, they said they wouldlet us know whatthey wou ld decide

aboutth e flying lessons.

On July 3rd, 2000, Atta and Alshehhi came backto HuffmanAviationto sign up

for lessons. Atta already helda Private PilotLicense but wanted to advanceand get his

Commercial Licenseand Alshehhiwas there to obtain both a Privateand Commercial

License. Theyhad stated they w ere unha ppy witha flying school they attendedupNorth.

We told themthe cost for the licenses they wantedwas about $18,000 per person

with $1,000 down paymentand $1,000 weekly thereafter paidby Atta witha check drawn

from a First Union account.

They inquired abouta place to stay. It is normal procedurefor a flying school to

offer proper accommodationsfo r students whomare learningto fly. Howev er,at thetime

HuffmanAviation had nosuch accommodations. Due to thefact they came through the

front door without advanced noticefor HuffmanAviationto take careof a room.Rudi

Dekkers, ownerof Huffman A viation, knew that C harlesVoss, CFO of Huffman

Aviation,rented ou t rooms in his home. A ttaand Alshehhi renteda room from Voss, bu t

after one week were askedto leave due to excessive rudenessfrom Atta to Mrs. Voss.

After their ev iction therewas nomentionof where they were staying.

Atta and Alshehhi started theirflying lessons on July 6th, 2000 in a Cessna 172,

N734EE with flight instructorThierry Leklou. Thenin Augus tLeklou went to theChief

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Flight Instructor, Dan Purcell , to complain that At taand Alshehhi had behavioral

problems and that they were not follo wi ng instructions, they also had bad attitudes.

Purcell asked Dekkersif it would be okay to expel them from th e program. Dekkers said

that if necessary it would be acceptable to expel themfrom the program. Purcell had a

meeting with both Atta and Alshehhi to let them know there had been complaints about

their behavior and that if they would not conform they would have to leave theprogram.

Their behavior changed and they were able to continue their lessons without any further

problems throughout the course. On August 29th, 2000, Nicky Antini, Student

Coordinator ofHuffman Aviation, sent in I-20M's to the INS along with a copy of their

passports.

Dekkers, on many occasions tried to communicate with Atta,but Atta was very

unfriendly with everyone. Dekkers knewthat Atta had lived in Hamburg, Germany and

one day spoke to him in German as a way of friendly comm unication. Atta was stunned

an d quickly walked away. Alshehhion the other hand was very friendly and willing to

communicate with everyone.H e always seemed to walk behind Atta, we had the

impression that Attaand Alshehhi where family.

In December 2000, Atta and Alshehhi took their last flighttests. Atta had

approximately 27 0 hours of total flight time and received his Instrument,Single/Multi-

Commercial Certification. Alshehhi was granted the same certification along with a

Private Pilot License. DaveWhitman, the local FAA designated examiner, gave them

their exams which theypassed with average grades and they were given temporary FA A

licenses for 120days.

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annoyed he had not been contacted earlier.The FBI waited for Dekkers upon Dekkers'

request. Dekkers immediatelyleft for Huffman from Bonita Springs, Florida. Dekkerslet

th e FBI know there were moreMuslim student files. Therefore the FBI ended up taking

over 100 files and 2computers. D ekkersinformed the FBI he also owned a flight school

in Naples, Florida named Ambassador Airways. This furthered no reaction.

Several days after September 11*,2001, the Naples FBI contacted Dekkersand

asked for files from students. The FBI asked if Dekkers could recognize the other

terrorists. Dekkersdid not recognize any other terrorist.The FBI took several files and

returned them about3 months later.

On Friday, March 8 th , 2002, a meeting had been set up with CNN Miami to do an

interview regarding the six-month anniversary of September 11th, 2001 for Monday,

March 11th, 2002. Dekkers opened the mail that M onday morningto eerily discover the

original I-20M's (student visa application) for Atta and Alshehhi. It is over a year since

Atta and Alshehhi leftHuffman Aviation and six months since theirdeaths. Dekkers was

relieved to see thepaperwork, but not surprised. It usually takes a long time for visas to

be returned from the INS. Dekkers was relieved because now he could prove thathis

company had carried out the proper procedures regarding Attaand Alshehhi's I-20M's.

Huffman had previously been castigatedfor not following properprocedures. This new

information was brought to the attention of CNN .

On Thursday, M arch 14 th , 2002, President Bush gavea press conference and

answered a question regarding the I-20M's that had arrived at Huffman Aviation. H e

replied there would be a full investigation.At 4:30PM of that day, an INS officer from

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Tampa arrived at H u ff m a n requestingthat al l original docum entsbe returned. D ekkers

was more than w il l ingto cooperate with th e governmentbut was reluctant to surrender

th e documents untila subpoena was produced by the INS officer from his briefcase.

Dekkers imm ediately surrendered the documents.

On the wayback home to Bon ita Springs, Floridaon Thursday, March14*, 2002,

Dekkers received a phone callfrom th e office of the Assistant General Attorney in

Florida named M r. Marino. Marino wantedto discuss th e entire incidentan d asked if

Dekkers would bringalong the original I-20M'son Friday, March 15*, 2002. Marino was

surprised to discover that Dekkers was no longer in possession of the original documents

that were takenby the INS. A meetinghas been set up forDekkers an d Marino to meet on

Monday, March 18th, 2002 at 12:OOPMin Naples, Florida.

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Back in the Lion's MouthThe INS had two chances to nab Mohamed Atta. It failed both times.BY BOB NORMAN

d e t a i l sWhen September 11 ringleaderMohamed Atta enteredtheUnitedStates this past January 10, federalinspectors mistakenly gave him two

extra months on his visa, New Timeshas learned.

While immigration policy dictated John Garon may be a partialthat Atta be allowed six months in the quadriplegc, but he wieldscountry after returning from a trip to federal civil-rights lawsuitsSpain, inspectors at MiamiInternational Airport gave him eightmonths, Immigration andNaturalization spokesman RodneyGermain said Tuesday. Thewrongfulvisa extension allowedthe Egyptianto remain legally hi the United Statesuntil September 10, the daybeforeAtta and his underlings hijackedfourplanes and killed thousands in NewYork, Washington, D.C., andPennsylvania.

Details: Read related Ne wTi m e s stories

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TheWizTom Johnston is Pompano'spuppet-master. Squint atcommission meetings andyou can see the strings.

In a remarkable display o f gall, Attamade a mistake of his own:Hechallenged the INS onbehalfof hisfrequent companion and fellow

hijacker,Marwan Al-Shehhi,saysStanley Mungaray, vice president ofthe IN S union chapterin Miam i. Al-Shehhi,who issuspectedofpiloting thesecond planeto hit the Wo rld Trade Center,had beengiven only a six-month visa extension w hen he entered the UnitedStates this past January.

Letters

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Artistic rumination

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So Atta , wi thAl-Shehhi in tow, made a trip to the IN Sbui ld inginMiami this spring and complained that his friend should also havebeen given e ightmonths ,Mungarayreports.

The INS, however, refused to grant Al-Shehhi the extra time.Instead, officials reduced Atta's visa extension to six months. "Sixmonths is the admission time given to people, and Atta got eightmonths," says Germain, who wouldn ' tprovide the date of thepair's meeting with immigrationofficials. "Eight months w asgiven to him by mistake, and that was corrected."

Still, this new information illustrates just how little fear Atta -- theman Osama bin Laden referred to as a "brother" on the recentlyreleased videotape -- had of the nation's immigration authority.

It also adds to the evidence that the INS bungled Atta's January 10admission after his trip to Madrid. Atta, New Times disclosedOctober 18, tried to get past a primary inspector using an expiredtourist visa, stating that he planned to be a student. An inspectordetained Atta and sent him to a room known as "hard secondary,"where he was questioned further. In the end, inspectors decided tolet him into the country. INS officials have defended their decisionto allow Atta's entry, but the agency's chief spokesman, RussBergeron, conceded to New Times that, had inspectors strictlyenforced immigration laws, Atta would have been expelled.

Atta's later visit to INS headquarters provided immigrationofficials with a second close encounter with the terrorist, andagain, the agency failed to investigate him ~ despite the apparentlyf raudulentgames he had been playing with his visa. "I guess heknew that he wouldn't get caught," Mungaray surmises. "It's just

sad that he was admitted in the first place."

Adds Jose Touron, another INS union official: "He was daring -he put his head right back in the lion's mouth. It's amazingtheydidn't take him to investigations."

newtimesbpb.com I originally published: December 20. 2001

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Curr icu lum Vi tae of Rudi H .G. Dekkers

The beginningsof my careeroriginatedin the RoyalDutch Army as an Electronics Instructor. I then pursued acareer in selling an d developingReal Estate.After RealEstate w ent into the Co m puter Distribution industry. Thethird and last career change occurredin 1994 when m yfamily and I moved to the U.S.A. I decide d that aviationwas my forte. Throughthe years of experience, Ilearned tospecialize in Marketing and Sales. I thrive on living andbeing an entrepreneur. I have been married for two decad esto my wife; we have three daughters, and an A mericangrandchild on the way. I am actively wo rkingat obtainingan American citizenship.

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Rudi H.G. Dekkers

Education

1971 -1975 Vocational Technical School

Majored in Electronics

1975-1977 Royal Dutch Military Academy

Instructor Officer in Electronics

1981-1983 University for Business Law

Concentration in Real Estate Brokerage

Work Experience

1977-1979 Royal Dutch Army

Instructor in Electronics

1980-1981 Delbo, Inc.

Founder and PresidentElectronic Tools Distribution CompanySales of $1 million per year2 Employees

1981-1988 Dekkers Real Estate

Founder and PresidentBrokerage and Development of Real EstateSales in 1988 were $20 million7 Employees

1989-1992 Impac/lntelec Computers

Netherlands

Netherlands

Netherlands

Netherlands

Netherlands

Netherlands

Netherlands

Founder and PresidentDeveloped a Computer Distribution Networkof 150 DealersImport Products from the U.S.A.Sales in 1992 were $5 million15 Employees

1992-1993 RoyalBorsumij Wehry N.V. Netherlands

President of Intelec bought by Royal Borsumij Wehry N.V.Distribution Network of 800 Computer DealersSales in 1993 were $20 million35 Employees

1994-1995 ICP U.S.A.. Inc. Naples, Florida

Founder and PresidentExportComputer Products to the NetherlandsSales in 1995 were $12 million

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2 Employees

1994-Present AerojetService Center, Inc. Naples, Florida

Founder and PresidentFixed-base Operation: Flight School and Repair Facility

- Sales of Flight Training in 2001 were $1.5 million20 EmployeesStill in Existence But No Activity Since December1 st, 2001 because of the

September 11 th, 2001 Terrorist Attacks1999-Present HuffmanAviation, Inc. Venice, Florida

President and OwnerFixed-base Operation: FlightSchool, Repair Facility,Fuel Sales, Restauran t,and General Aviation TrafficSales in 2001 were S3 million35 Employees

2000-2001 FloridaAir, Inc. Venice, Florida

Founder and PresidentStart-up Commuter Airline in FloridaResigned in Accordance with the Department of Transportation Rules andRegulations because of Dutch C itizenship32 Employees

2000-Present Dekkers Aviation Group,Inc. Venice, Florida

Founder and PresidentFixed-base Operation: Fuel and Repair Facility8 Employees

Certifications

1981-1982 Dutch FAA Netherlands

Private Pilot LicenseMulti-Engine License

1993-Present Federal Aviation Administration U.S.A.

Commercial Single-Engine LicenseCommercial Multi-Engine LicenseCommercial Helicopter LicenseInstrument LicenseTotal Flight Time:3,500 Hours

1996-2000 Am erican Associationof Notaries Naples, Florida

Public NotaryCommission No. 535186

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t5 b46 footnote materials 2 of 3 fdr- oig exhibit- rudi dekkers- testimony- new times article- cv-...

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