A former senior advisor for the Obama administration was charged in a British court with child sex crime charges on Friday. Rahamim Shy, 46 years old, coordinated the U.S. Government’s strategy against terrorist groups like Al-Qaeda. Shy, 46, was arrested by Bedford Police in February and charged with arranging the commission of a child sex offense, possession of two category C indecent images of children, and possessing a prohibited image of a child.
Shy, a New Jersey-born American citizen, served as a State Department official under Hillary Clinton and the former administration of Barack Obama. Shy was a senior official at the U.S. Treasury Department between 2008 and 2014, where he advised on counter-terrorism funding and assisted in imposing sanctions against foreign adversarial governments. He provided strategic policy analyses to chiefs of the Department of Defense, and he was a senior adviser to late diplomat Ambassador Richard Holbrooke who died in 2010 after having served under three Democratic presidents.
Shy was sent to Afghanistan to be part of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force, an organization created to maintain stability in the Middle Eastern nation after the US invasion. Shy’s ISAF role was to provide expertise in counter-terrorism finance, an important aspect of combating extreme activities.
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Shy’s LinkedIn profile highlights his role as a co-presenter of the U.S. Afghanistan strategy at a congressional hearing in 2009 alongside Ambassador Holbrooke. The presentation covered the upcoming Afghan presidential elections, U.S. security measures including amnesty for former anti-government rebels in the area, and improving regional and local governance. Shy spoke about funding terrorism through drug trafficking and kidnappings, and the formation of a task force to coordinate US efforts.
Shy’s most recent employer was Citi Financial Services. The company lists his role as Deputy Head of Enterprise Issue Management. However, a Citi spokesperson confirmed that he is no longer employed by the banking group.
Shy studied international security policy in New York at Columbia University School of International and Public Affairs after attending Rutgers University in New Jersey.
Shy appeared via video from HMP Bedford (His Majesty’s Prison), wearing a gray prison tracksuit. He was remanded in custody until a June hearing.
The arrest of Shy is an embarrassment to the United States and the former Obama administration. This comes amid a complex geopolitical background in the Middle East.
How long Shy was in Britain or for how long is still unknown.
Shy hasn’t entered a plea to the charges at this time.
