By Theodore Bunker From Newsmax

The owner of the limousine that crashed in upstate New York over the weekend was formerly an FBI informant who testified in two terrorism cases, ABC News reports.

Local affiliate ABC 7 says Shahed Hussain, 62, became an FBI informant in 2002, after he was caught assisting immigrants in cheating on their driver’s license exams while employed by the state DMV. He testified in a case in Albany related to terrorism financing, and in a case that prevented an alleged plan to bomb a synagogue in the Bronx in 2009. According to his testimony in 2010, Hussain infiltrated a mosque in Newburgh, where he recruited four men into a sting operation. All four were later convicted and sentenced to 25 years in prison.

Hussain’s address is listed as a series of one-story units called the Crest Inn Suites and Cottages managed by Arnie Cornett, 60, who said the owner is known as “Mr. Malik,” and that he lives in Dubai, according to The New York Post. The newspaper notes that Hussain is also known as “Malik.”

Cornett added that “Prestige used to be here,” but moved roughly 18 months ago in reference to the Hussain’s company, Prestige Limousine Chauffeur Service.

“From what I’m told, they operated out of the back parking lot,” he said. “They don’t operate here anymore.”

IMAGE: A limousine loaded with people headed to a birthday party slammed into an SUV parked outside a store over the weekend.
(AP Photo/Hans Pennink)

© 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

For more on this story go to: https://www.newsmax.com/us/limo-crash-owner-fbi/2018/10/08/id/885380/?ns_mail_uid=6952f1f9-507d-4a20-8cc0-0a1db158d76e&ns_mail_job=DM6727_10092018&s=acs&dkt_nbr=010104vho2pg

Related:

NY Gov. Cuomo: Limo Involved in Fatal Crash Failed Inspection

By Brian Freeman From Newsmax

The limousine involved in an accident that killed 20 people in upstate New York on Saturday failed an inspection last month and should not have been in use, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said on Monday, NBC News reported.

“The owner of the company had no business putting a failed vehicle on the road,” Cuomo said.

The governor added that the driver did not have the specific license required to operate the limousine.

The National Transportation Safety Board and police are investigating the accident, and it is still unclear if the crash was the driver’s fault or a malfunction of the vehicle, Cuomo said.

The governor added that Prestige Limousine, the company responsible for the vehicle, was being sent a cease and desist until the probe is complete.

Cuomo said the limousine was a “chopped vehicle,” meaning it had been cut and extended and required federal certification that it had been extended in a way that abides by the law, which it did not have, according to NBC.

Prestige Limousine has had vehicles inspected five times in the past five years and had four taken out of service, according to Department of Transportation records, ABC News reported. That rate is four times the national average.

The accident occurred Saturday when the driver failed to stop at an intersection in Schoharie, New York, and careened into a parking lot before smashing into an unoccupied SUV, which struck the two pedestrians who were killed along with the 18 people in the limousine, authorities said.

Relatives said the vehicle had been rented as part of a 30th birthday celebration.

IMAGE: NY Gov. Andrew Cuomo (Getty Images)

© 2018 Newsmax. All rights reserved.

For more on this story go to: https://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/andrew-cuomo-limo-accident-failed/2018/10/08/id/885364/