Chicago man released on bond

BANGOR – The Chicago man who claimed he had been kidnapped and forced onto a Moroccan-bound flight from New York that was diverted to Bangor last week was released Monday on $50,000 bond.

Zubair Ali Ghias, 27, is charged with making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation. He did not enter a plea to the charges Monday.

He left the federal building Monday afternoon holding hands with his wife, Jehan Ara Ameen, 26, after a hearing before U.S. Magistrate Judge Margaret Kravchuk. Zubair Ghias’ parents, Azher and Muzaina Ghias, also of Chicago, greeted their son with hugs and kisses on his release from the custody of U.S. marshals.

The family was scheduled to leave Maine together late Monday afternoon from Bangor International Airport on a chartered flight.

Ameen, who is six months pregnant, reported her husband missing when he did not return home for dinner on Valentine’s Day. Earlier that day, Zubair Ghias picked his wife up at the Chicago airport, then went to his office after taking her home, according to court documents. His 2004 Range Rover was found Feb. 17, abandoned in Chicago’s South Side.

He called his family in Chicago two days later and said he was being kidnapped by Arabs and forced to board Royal Air Maroc Flight 201. The Transportation Security Administration diverted the flight to Bangor after hearing of a bomb threat, the agency said.

The Boeing 767, with about 90 people aboard, landed in Bangor late Thursday night, about four hours after taking off from New York’s John F. Kennedy International Airport.

No bomb was found. The plane resumed its flight to Casablanca early Friday, and officials said passengers and crew were never in danger.

In an affidavit filed with the court, an FBI investigator recounted Zubair Ghias’ story of being kidnapped by an African man, forced to withdraw money from an ATM and later turned over to a group of Arabs who used threats against his family to force him onto the flight.

A second person removed from the flight at Bangor, Ahmed Bhiksi, was identified as a Moroccan who was being deported from the United States.

In a subsequent interview, Zubair Ghias admitted that he had had made up the story after a Feb. 14 fight with his wife prompted “the rash decision to travel to New York and get away from everything,” the affidavit said.

Zubair Ghias expressed regret for the inconvenience he caused to his family and to authorities, suggesting that his actions might have stemmed from love dementia, his FBI interviewer said.

Members of the Ghias family refused to speak to the throng of reporters who awaited them outside the Margaret Chase Smith Federal Building on Monday, but Zubair Ghias’ attorney, Mark Rotert of Chicago, urged the public to avoid a “rush to judgment” about his client.

“There is more unknown than known about this case,” Rotert said. He added that Zubair Ghias was grateful to his family for their support and happy to be returning home after spending the weekend in Piscataquis County Jail.

Bond for the investment banker, who works at J.P. Morgan Chase in Chicago, was secured by the deed to his $270,000 condominium on the city’s North Side. Conditions of his release include surrendering his passport, not applying for a new passport, no air travel except to attend legal proceedings in Maine and submitting to a mental health evaluation.

If convicted of filing the false report, Ghias faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine, the U.S. Attorney’s Office said.

Subsequent court appearances would be scheduled in Bangor unless his attorney seeks and is granted a change of venue in the case.

In an interview with the Chicago Tribune on Friday before charges were filed against her son, Muzaina Ghias said she was relieved her son had been found and was puzzled by the turn of events.

Zubair Ghias was born at a Chicago hospital, attended Naperville North High School and earned an economics degree from the University of Chicago. He and his wife married six years ago, according Muzaina Ghias.

She told the newspaper that her son had no domestic problems and would never go off on his own.

“That was his life,” said Muzaina Ghias. “Very simple, very devoted family person.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.