A group founded by Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf, who plans to build the mosque at Ground Zero, applied for and was granted tax-exempt status as a religious foundation in 1998, claiming to run a prayer center attended by 450 to 500 worshipers every day in the apartment building where the Imam’s wife Daisy Khan was registered as a tenant.

Her place was a one-bedroom apartment of about 800 square feet. Nowhere in the entire apartment block was there a hall or room or any kind of space big enough to accomodate 450 to 500 people, especially if they were all to get down on their knees and prostrate themselves in unison in the direction of Mecca. However did they do it?

Here’s part of a report on the mystery, to be found at Creeping Sharia:

The application for tax exempt status from the American Sufi Muslim Association (ASMA) in 1998 claimed the group had an established place of worship at 201 W. 85th St. in New York. That is a 17-floor apartment building.

The 1998 tax filing, called a 1023 form, is required for any institution that wants to be considered a religious house of worship and therefore exempt from taxation. In the filing, Rauf is identified as ASMA’s founder. The application said the group was already operating as a prayer center for between 450 and 500 daily worshipers.

However, a review of the building and real estate records indicates there is nowhere in the building to house that many congregants. ASMA lists its office address as 201 W. 85th St., Apt. 10E on the tax form, while it cites only the building address as its location for prayer services.

The building has apartments only and no public spaces, such as a conference or a board room, to accommodate 450 people. Apartment 10E, building records show, is a one-bedroom apartment with about 800 square feet of living space. In the 1997 incorporation records filed with the state of New York, Rauf’s wife, Daisy Khan, was named as an ASMA director living at that address.

The Imam and his wife got away with a scam.

Surely now that they’re known to be cheats, liars, frauds, New York’s Mayor Bloomberg and other powerful defenders of their Ground Zero mosque scheme will withdraw their support?

How can we doubt it?