A month after prosecutors dropped fraud charges against a former Islamic Center of Washington finance manager, the mosque and its bookkeeper have filed civil lawsuits against each other.
The lawsuits extend a legal battle between Farzad Darui and the Islamic Center that began in 2006 and involve the alleged embezzlement of more than $400,000, a now-dropped civil suit, a hung jury in a criminal trial and prosecutors ultimately dismissing the fraud and theft charges.
Darui’s malicious-prosecution suit against the mosque alleges that the center’s previous civil suit and the following criminal case were based on false accusations that cost him his job and reputation.
The Islamic Center, in turn, has filed a suit that again claims Darui embezzled more than $430,000 from the mosque between 2000 and 2006.
The accusations in the mosque’s suit echo the previous civil and criminal charges against Darui. The complaint alleges that he altered the names of payees on checks to funnel money from the center to his own companies.
Darui worked for the mosque, located at 2551 Massachusetts Ave. NW, from 1994 to August 2006, when the Islamic Center says it uncovered the alleged embezzlement scheme.
The center filed a civil suit against him in September 2006, which it dismissed that December.
In October 2006, criminal fraud and theft charges were filed against Darui in U.S. District Court in D.C. A 2008 trial ended in a hung jury, and prosecutors dropped the case last month.
The lawsuit against the mosque was “filed to vindicate Mr. Darui’s reputation,” his lawyer, Aaron Book, told The Washington Examiner.
According to Darui’s complaint, Abdullah M. Khouj, chief imam at the center, falsely accused Darui of altering checks so they would be paid to his businesses.
“In fact, Khouj signed and authorized the cashed checks to Darui’s businesses because he owed Darui for the housing and upkeeping of two of his ‘wives’ or mistresses,” according to the suit against the mosque.
Prosecutors said in court filings that they would not call Khouj to testify in any retrial, but have not explained why they dropped the case.
The Islamic Center’s new complaint is “based on the same discredited allegations that led the government to abandon its case,” Book said.
Thomas Shakow, the center’s attorney, did not return phone or e-mail requests for comment.
Darui’s suit was filed in federal court in Alexandria and the mosque’s complaint was filed in federal court in D.C.
