Pakistani tourist from South Africa, Jhanzaib Malik, was arrested Dec. 22, 2015, and his New York vacation was spent in Rikers.
He came to New York from South Africa for a dream vacation. Now he’s a man without a country.
Jhanzaib Malik, a 24-year-old native of Pakistan, was arrested Dec. 22 at the Sheraton in Brooklyn after describing his suitcase as “the bomb” while flirting with a hotel clerk at check-in.
PAKISTANI MAN ARRESTED FOR DESCRIBING SUITCASE AS A 'BOMB'
Malik, who lives in Johannesburg, had saved for two years to spend the holidays in New York, but he wound up stuck on Rikers Island for most of the trip. He sits in limbo because prosecutors are holding on to his passport, while the State Department has revoked his visa.
In other words, he can’t leave and he can’t stay.
“I just came for vacation and my stupid joke led to all this,” he told The Daily News on Monday. “I was just flirting. I’m a flirty guy.”
Malik certainly isn’t laughing now. In addition to being marooned here, his family is so angry with him that they stopped loaning him money. He owes his lawyer thousands of dollars. He got laid off from his job in the fraud department of his uncle’s South African airline.
The story became national news in Pakistan and one network actually aired a skit making fun of him, he said.
On top of all that, while he was in a holding cell, he was sucker-punched in the face by another inmate.
“The way this case is being handled is crazy,” said his lawyer Roger Asmar. “The state department takes his visa, while the DA’s office keeps his passport. How can he leave the country when he has a pending case?”
Malik Jhanzaib says he told a Brooklyn Sheraton hotel employee that his suitcase was "the bomb".
Authorities are also holding $2,700 in cash that Malik had on him when he was arrested, along with his cologne, body spray, toothpaste and toothbrush, he said.
His Guess brand suitcase was cut up by investigators and tossed out. But, incredibly, Malik isn't sore at the U.S. He actually wants to find a way to stay in New York once his case is over.
“I don't want to go back to South Africa or Pakistan,” Malik told The News. “Keep my passport, just let me stay here. I love this country.”
Malik’s ordeal began on the day he arrived at Kennedy Airport from South Africa. First, a gypsy cab driver fleeced him for $100 for a trip to the Sheraton on Duffield St. Then he walked into the lobby of the hotel around 10:30 a.m. and tried to check in. There was glitch in the system and he was delayed. In the meantime, he started flirting with the clerk.
Trying to impress her, he pointed to his suitcase and said, “That’s the bomb.”
She misunderstood his meaning and called police, who came and took him to a facility where the FBI interviewed him and checked his background. They found no terrorist ties, but he was charged anyway and sent to Rikers. A judge set bail at $100,000. He spent 11 miserable days in jail before he was released on Jan. 2.
The felony charge of falsely reporting an incident was dismissed and bail was reduced to $10,000, but the case is still open. A misdemeanor charge of falsely reporting an incident is pending.
For now, Malik is paying $560 a month for a room in Jackson Heights, Queens and trying to make the best of it. He doesn’t know what will happen when his case is over.
“I was kind of a spoiled kid, and I really learned the value of things in jail,” he said. “Everything happens for the good.”
No comments:
Post a Comment