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Full episode
387: Arms Trader (2009)
Act One

Act One

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Hemant Lakhani, an Indian-born British citizen, had been a salesman all his life. Clothing, rice, oil...it didn't matter to him what, as long as he could spin a deal. Then one day, sitting in a hotel room with a gangster he happened to know, the phone rang. It wasa business friend of the gangster's, calling from America. The man on the phone was rich, Lakhani was told. Maybe he would invest in Lakhani's latest venture. So Lakhani started talking to the man over the phone. Pretty soon they set up a meeting at a hotel in New Jersey, to talk business. But when Lakhani got there, the man seemed to be only interested in buying weapons. Illegal weapons, for Somali terrorists. Lakhani, always eager to make a deal, said he can help him out. What he didn't know, is that the supposed rich business man was an FBI informant, and that he had just walked into an elaborate government sting. Petra Bartosiewicz reports. (30 minutes)

By

Petra Bartosiewicz

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More by Petra Bartosiewicz

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387: Arms Trader (2009)
Aug. 7, 2009

Act Two

Our story about Hemant Lakhani's case continues, through the sting and the trial.
356: The Prosecutor
May 30, 2008

Act One: Conviction

Reporter Petra Bartosiewicz tells the first half of Rick Convertino's story.
356: The Prosecutor
May 30, 2008

Act Two: Retaliation

Reporter Petra Bartosiewicz's story continues.
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