Relates to prohibiting funding of terrorist activities through donations to not-for-profit organizations

Summary of specific provisions

Specifically, this bill would add a new subdivision two to section 115 of the not-for-profit corporation law, to provide that:

1. Not-for-profit corporations shall not solicit contributions for, or transfer any monies to, any person or organization which assists, funds or supports terrorism or terrorist activities;

2. Terrorism and terrorist activities would be defined to include any act, or threat of an act, of violence directed against the United States, any state, or local government, or against any person or proper- ty within the United States, if such act, or threat of an act, of violence is motivated by religious, cultural or political ideology;

3. Assistance, funding or support of terrorism would be defined to include any activity which could assist the advancement, planning, oper- ation, conduct or advocacy of terrorism or terrorist activities, includ- ing the assistance, funding or supporting or any educational, religious, cultural or political organization, or person officially affiliated with such organization, which advocates the advancement, planning, operation, conduct or advocacy of terrorism or terrorist activities;

4. The attorney general and/or the comptroller, upon probable cause, may audit and Investigate any not-for-corporation suspected soliciting contributions for, or transferring monies to any person or organization which assists, funds or supports terrorism or terrorist activities, and upon the conduct-of such audit or investigation, the attorney general and comptroller shall be permitted full and unrestricted access to all records, papers and accounts of such corporation, and shall also be empowered to depose under oath, any officer, director or employee of such corporation;

5. The attorney general would also have the power, as shall the district attorney of the county in which the corporation maintains its offices, to prosecute any violation of this section; and

6. Any not-for-profit corporation found guilty of soliciting contrib- utions for, transferring monies to any person or organization which assists, funds or supports terrorism or terrorist activities, and/or any not-for-corporation which has an officer or director found guilty of section 490.15 of the penal law, shall be deemed immediately dissolved,

with its assets immediately transferred to the state of New York, and the comptroller upon depositing such assets into a segregated account shall thereupon disburse such assets to other charitable organizations which do not assist, fund or support terrorism or terrorist activities, unless such corporation can demonstrate by compelling evidence to a supreme court that its corporate existence should be continued and that any person so involved with the violation will no longer be employed or associated with the corporation.

This bill would also amend section 490.15 of the penal law, to provide that any officer of director of a not-for-profit corporation who know- ingly permits such corporation to assist, fund or support terrorism would be guilty of the crime of soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism in the first degree, which is a class C felony.

Justification

One of the greatest weapons our society has to effec- tively fight the war against terrorism is to stop the flow of monies to those who would advocate, advance or commit acts of terrorism. Money is the life's blood of terrorism. Ills the resource that makes it operate and helps to sustain its viability to inflict such great damage. Stop the financing of those who advocate, advance or commit acts of terror- ism, and the real threat and viability that terrorist can pose becomes dramatically diminished.

Since September 11, 2001, it has become evident that a great deal of the terrorist's funding has come from the United States, being channeled through charitable organizations. Project Green Quest, was established by the federal government with the sole intent of tracking these monies funneled to terrorists, and then seeking to try to stop them. But even with such effort, both the federal department of justice and our nation's intelligence services, have all said that the only real way to prevent this funding is to have the not-for-profit corporations them- selves stop raising and distributing these monies. These federal author- ities, responsible for fighting the war against terrorism, have called upon the states to take real and meaningful action to combat this prob- lem. This bill would lake such action, and would provide the incentive for not-for-profit charities to insure they are not providing monies to any person or organization which assists, funds or supports terrorism or terrorist activities, as well as institute the personal criminal liabil- ity and corporate dissolution for those who continue to do so.

Prior legislative history

A11350A/S3587A (passed Senate in 2007 and 2008).

Fiscal implications

None Noted.

Effective date

This act would take effect on January 1, 2011.