Agus Budiman

Agus lived in Hamburg and moved to the US, settling in Virginia, allegedly in 2000. Agus claimed to have lived at 1111 Army Navy Drive Arlington Va 22202. FBi agents said he never lived there, at least in apartment 208. FBI agents said his brother once lived in Apartment 218. I was unable to find any records for Apt 218. A man named Agus Perada / Terada Agus lived - at some point - in Apt 208

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta | National | Wed, November 28 2001

A federal agent testified on Monday that an Indonesian facing charges of documentation fraud and violating immigration laws had close ties to two prime suspects in the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks in Washington and New York.

FBI Special Agent Jesus Gomez said in a preliminary detention hearing for Agus Budiman that the 31-year-old Indonesian citizen were very close to suspected ringleaders Mohamed Atta and Marwan al-Shehhi, and that he may have helped plan the attacks.

When Agus' court-appointed lawyer heard the testimony, he asked the court to be excused from the case.

""I'm a retired Army officer,"" said Agus' attorney, Greg English. ""I cannot in good conscience represent anyone accused of terrorist activity against the U.S.""

English said Budiman did not tell him about his possible associations. He thought Agus was a ""run of the mill"" immigration fraud case.

From the indictment US v Budiman: "On or about November 4, 2000, the defendant agreed to assist an unindicted coconspirator to obtain a Virginia identification card from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) by fraudulent means..." On the same day, Budiman "received a Virginia identification card from agents of the Virginia DMV"

The US Media described Budiman once as "contact person for Osama bin Laden" and said, that Budiman allowed hijacker Siad Jarrah to use his address on his visa application.

US authorities say they had reason to be suspicious of Mr Budiman "because he knew Muhammad Atta"

FBI special agent Jesus Gomez testified that hijacker Ziad Samir Jarrah used Budiman's name to get into the United States, and Ramsi Binalshibh, a Muslim cleric from Hamburg, twice unsuccessfully tried to use Budiman's name to get into the country.

Agus, arrested for overstaying his visitor visa and illegally taking a job as a delivery driver, arrived in the U.S. in October 2000. He was accompanied by Mohammad Belfas, who also is wanted by federal authorities in connection with the attacks. Agus is accused of falsifying documents to help Belfas get a Virginia driver's license.

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