A Kansas City, Mo. husband and wife living in southeastern Platte County claim they let a man with ties to a major terrorist organization stay at their residence and he threatened retribution when they asked him to leave after discovering his alleged affiliation. According to court documents, 24-year-old Ali O. Swei — listed address in Orlando, Fla. — stands charged with one felony count each of attempted stealing by coercion and aggravated stalking in Platte County court. He remains at large, wanted by local authorities and the FBI with a pending $75,000 cash-only bond with the condition he surrender his passport.
The charges stem from a March, 2015 report made to the Kansas City (Mo.) Police Department.
In the probable cause statement, a local couple claims to have met Swei during a Libyan retreat in Ohio, befriending him and offering to sponsor him for United States citizenship. He came to stay with them at their home in Platte County as a guest when the couple became suspicious that he might have ties to Ansar Al-Sharia — a Libyan Islamic militia with links to terrorism.
The husband — not named in the documents — claims to have overheard a phone conversation in early March between Swei and an unidentified person. During the call, the victim claims to have heard the person ask, “What do you want us to do? We beat him up, and he still doesn’t have your money.”
According to the court document, Swei responded by saying, “Finish him.”
The husband said he later saw Facebook messages of condolences to the person’s family, leading him to believe the person discussed during the phone call was now deceased. The couple then looked at Swei’s computer after he left the house one day and observed items related to Ansar Al-Sharia regarding training and finance.
When confronted about his link to the group, Swei allegedly threatened to harm both of the victim’s families, alluding to killing family members and burning down houses in Libya. He asked for $30,000 apiece to be deposited into a bank account.
Swei did leave the house but continued to contact the victims, eventually lowering the asking price to $15,000 apiece.