INSIDE EDITION is learning more about the 21-year-old accused terrorist who officials say was caught attempting to blow up the Federal Reserve in New York City.
The 21-year-old accused terrorist who the FBI say plotted to carry out the most serious attack on the United States since 9/11 allegedly planned to bury America’s largest gold reserve, 7,000 tons of bullion, stored beneath the Federal Reserve Bank of New York under a mountain of rubble.
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis came to the United States from Bangladesh on a student visa in January 2012. CBS News Senior Correspondent John Miller says Americans should be very concerned.
"The most shocking thing about this case is the size and scope of his alleged intent, which was not to walk into a crowded restaurant with a suicide bomb and blow himself up. It was allegedly to put a 1,000-pound truck bomb in front of the very symbol of the American economy," said Miller.
FBI agents raided the Queens, New York, apartment where he was staying with relatives and removed boxes of documents and other items.
Nafis lived in an apartment that has an eat-in kitchen, two bedrooms, and a small balcony on the second floor overlooking the street. The stars and stripes were flying outside the building today.
This is the 15th terror attack thwarted in New York City since 9/11, and in this case the alleged bomber tried to detonate his bomb at the nearby Millennium Hotel a few blocks away. After parking a van loaded with phony explosives, Nafis went to the Millennium Hotel to detonate the bomb.
INSIDE EDITION’s Lisa Guerrero said, “Incidently I've been staying here the last two nights in a room similar to the one Nafis was in. It directly overlooks the target of his attack, The Federal Reserve building. And it also offers stunning views of Ground Zero.”
Nafis allegedly tried to detonate the fake bomb using a cell phone. Of course, it did not work. Instead, it activated a signal in the van, alerting the FBI to move in and arrest him.
According to the FBI's criminal complaint, Nafis believed his 1,000-pound bomb would equal the destruction caused by Timothy McVeigh in Oklahoma City in 1995.
“I want something big, very, very, very big that will shake the whole country. That will make us one step closer to run the whole world," Nafis told the FBI's undercover agent.
At one point, Nafis allegedly planned to assassinate President Obama, telling an FBI undercover informant:
"You know what; this [Presidential] election might even stop."
The 22-story Federal Reserve building is considered a prime target for terrorists. In Die Hard With a Vengence, Bruce Willis thwarted an attempt to steal the bank's 450 billion dollars worth of gold.
"Who else might be a part of his network? Who else might have been sent?" said Miller.
