Murtaza Ali was trying to flee to Pakistan, alleges his wife.
AB Wire
NEW YORK: A Pakistani man from Skokie, Illinois, Murtaza Ali, 44, was indicted last week by a federal grand jury for international parental kidnapping of his three children and traveling with them to Turkey without their mother’s consent, permission or knowledge.
Ali was arrested on May 6 upon his return to O’Hare International Airport with the children, and remains in federal custody, according to the Justice Department.
According to the court documents, Ali is a Pakistani-national, and with individual A, has three minor children. According to Individual A, on the evening of May 2, 2015, she was at a social gathering. Ali, along with the three children, was scheduled to pick her up after the event. He did not pick her up, and when she arrived home, Ali and the three children were not home, the house was a mess, and the passports and luggage were missing. An investigation by Skokie Police Department determined Ali’s last known location was believed to be near O’Hare Airport.
Ali, along with the three children, boarded a Turkish Airlines flight at O’Hare Airport and arrived in Istanbul, Turkey on May 2. According to Individual A, Ali called her from Turkey and stated that he had the three children and that he was traveling to Pakistan. According to information obtained from Turkish Airlines and other law enforcement agents, there was reason to believe that Ali was planning to board a flight from Turkey bound for Karachi, Pakistan, with the children. He was arrested on a federal complaint when he and his three children returned to the United States on May 6.
International parental kidnapping carries a maximum sentence of three years in prison and a $250,000 fine