NEW YORK – The Federal Bureau of Investigation on Wednesday arrested a 21-year-old Bangladeshi man on charges he attempted to blow up the New York Federal Reserve Bank with what he believed was a 1,000-pound (453-kg) bomb, a plot thwarted by an undercover sting operation, federal authorities said.
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis faces charges of attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida, the U.S. Department of Justice said in a statement.
The public was not in danger, because the explosives provided to Nafis by the undercover agent were never in working condition.
Nafis travelled to the United States in January, 2012, and considered several targets for his attack, including a high-ranking government official and the New York Stock Exchange, but in the end decided to focus on the Federal Reserve Bank in lower Manhattan, according to the criminal complaint.
The Federal Reserve could not immediately be reached for comment.
