Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid

Mohamad Anas Haitham Soueid (also known as Alex Soueid and Anas Alswaid) is a Syrian-born naturalized United States citizen and a resident of Leesburg, Virginia who was indicted on espionage-related charges by federal prosecutors in October 2011. Soueid, 47 years old, is accused of passing information about Syrian American protesters in the United States to the government of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, who are thought to have arrested and tortured numerous Syrian political refugees' family members and associates living in Syria.

The arrest and indictment occurred during the 2011 Syrian uprising, in which the Syrian government has allegedly violently reacted to demonstrations against the government and in some instances has harassed Syrian exiles living abroad. According to the New York Times, "the details laid out by the Justice Department lent greater support to claims by Syrian activists living abroad that they face systematic harassment, threats and intimidation – including being videotaped at protests supportive of the country’s antigovernment uprising – by people they believe to be agents of the Syrian government." Syrian dissident Ahed al-Hendi, who coordinated demonstrations in Washington, stated that "The mentality of the Syrian regime is to track all the dissidents and know what they're doing."

Following the economic downturn, an aunt of Soueid living in Paris wired $200,000 to Soueid via "an account in the name of a used car dealership". Elass stated that the $200,000 came from her family, which includes a "Saudi oil company executive", so Soueid could start a limousine service.

Earlier civil lawsuit Soueid was named as a defendant (under the Anas Alswaid name) in a civil lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia in May 2011 by Syrian citizens and Syrian-Americans who claim to have been subjected to abuse by Syrian authorities and agents.

On October 5, 2011, Soueid was indicted by a federal grand jury in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria with six criminal counts: One count of acting as an unregistered foreign agent of the Syrian government; two counts of providing false statements of a firearms purchase form; and two counts of making false statements to federal law enforcement. The charges in the indictment carry a maximum penalty of up to 40 years in prison: 15 on the conspiracy and foreign agent charges, 15 on firearms charges, and 10 on the false statements charges.

The indictment deals with Soueid's alleged activity beginning in March 2011.

The indictment also alleges that Soueid met with Syrian intelligence officials and spoke with Assad privately on a June 2011 trip funded by the Syrian government,

The two counts of making false statements in the indictment stem from the FBI's interview Soueid in August. Soueid was searched and questioned by authorities upon his return to the U.S. at the Washington Dulles International Airport and subsequently informed his handler that he would change procedures to avoid further scrutiny but would continue the "project". The indictment states that Soueid lied when he denied collecting information about protesters and passing information to the government of Syria. At the appearance, Dennis Fitzpatrick, the federal prosecutor for the case, stated that Soueid posed "a serious risk of flight", and the magistrate judge ordered Soueid held pending a detention hearing on October 14. Soueid appeared dressed in a black fleece sweater and blue jeans and stated that he had not yet had a chance to contact his attorney.

At an October 18 hearing on bail before U.S. Magistrate Judge T. Rawles Jones, Jr., prosecutor Fitzpatrick argued that Soueid should be held pending trial, stating that Soueid could flee the country and emphasized Soueid's July meeting with Assad as well as "communications about setting up bank accounts in Peru, wire transfers of more than $200,000 from Syria via a French bank and a Citibank deposit of $4,000 made in $100 bills a day after spending more than an hour at the Syrian Embassy in Washington. Defense lawyer Faraj argued that electronic monitoring and house arrest were sufficient to ensure that Soueid would not contact anyone and argued that Soueid's ties to his family, a wife of 17 years and twin 15-year-old sons, made him less likely to be a flight risk. Jones ruled that Soueid should be freed from jail and placed on home detention while awaiting trial, stating, "Whatever he's done in the past, he's incapable of doing it now," Jones said. "He's, at worst, a low-level operative, and it's speculative that he would walk out on a family he's this close to." Soueid said that "There is no evidence that he is a trained operative." The prosecution gave immediate notice that the government planned to appeal and Rawles delayed implementation of the order until review by a district court judge. At the hearing, prosecutor Fitzpatrick presented more detailed evidence to suggest that Soueid was a high-level operative, stating that the prosecution had "tread lightly" on presenting evidence at the detention hearing the week earlier because much of it came from a confidential source paid by the FBI whom the prosecution did not wish to endanger more.

He was convicted of unlawfully acting as an agent of a foreign government on March 26, 2012.