Agus Budiman

From 9/11 Encyclopedia:

In late November 2001, Agus Budiman, an indonesian driver for a food delivery service, was officially charged for helping another man, Mohammad Bin Nasser Belfas (->), obtaining a false Virginia driver's license. FBI special agent Jesus Gomez linked Budiman to three of the hijackers, including suspected ringleader Atta,Mohammad, and two others believed to have close ties to the terrorists.

Budiman's defense attorney, Mark Thrash, characterized the government's case as "smoke and mirrors," saying Budiman had only a passing acquaintance with the hijackers through a Hamburg mosque. He said there was no evidence that Budiman had shared the hijackers' views about the United States or known of their plot. Gomez testified that hijacker Ziad Samir Jarrah (->), who was the official hijacker-pilot of Flight 93 (->) used Budiman's name to get into the United States, and Ramsi Binalshibh (->), a Muslim cleric from Hamburg, twice unsuccessfully tried to use Budiman's name to get into the country. The FBI says Binalshibh was supposed to be the 20th hijacker on September 11. http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2001/11/30/archive/main319611.shtml 

From the indictment US v Budiman: "On or about November 4, 2000, the defendant agreed to assist an unindicted coconspirator to obtain a Virginia identification card from the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV) by fraudulent means..." On the same day, Budiman "received a Virginia identification card from agents of the Virginia DMV" http://news.findlaw.com/cnn/docs/terrorism/usbudiman022102ind.pdf

During 2002, it was almost impossible to find updates on Budimans case in the mainstream press, especially on the connection of Virginia DMV and the strange death of "witness" Katherine Smith (->), who was another employee of the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles.

The only chance was to translate articles on Budiman of http://www.tempo.co.id, who covered his story in 2002 for a couple of months. Finally in September 2002, Straitstimes revealed, that Budiman was indeed 7 months unguilty in prison and had been cleared of involvement in the terror attacks. Meanwhile deported to Indonesia, Budiman's lawyer, Mr Wirawan Adnan, said his client was a victim of guilt by association. 

US authorities say they had reason to be suspicious of Mr Budiman "because he knew Muhammad Atta" (->). http://straitstimes.asia1.com.sg/sept11/story/0,1870,142852,00.html 

The US Media described Budiman once as "contact person for Osama bin Laden" and said, that Budiman allowed hijacker Siad Jarrah
to use his address on his visa application. 
http://www.timesunion.com/AspStories/story.asp?storyID=45228
http://www.sptimes.com/News/113001/Worldandnation/FBI__Abortion_foe_beh.shtml 

Note: The "food service", Budiman was illegally working for, was Takeout Taxi, "a food delivery service in suburban Washington. Belfas frequently accompanied him as he drove." Takeout Taxi is one of those services which delivers for a number of restaurants." Source: http://ktla.trb.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-112801terror,0,62260.story

(See Visa, Helping Hands) (-> Boston connection) (See Missing Detainees)