Terror masterminded by Canadian

Gerald Blanchard, 35, a Canadian was sentenced to eight years in prison Wednesday for masterminding a scheme to fund Muslim extremists by ripping off bank ATMs. He pleaded guilty to 16 charges, admitting he came up with the plans that netted his group millions of dollars from banks in Canada and overseas using high-tech surveillance techniques and counterfeit credit cards, the Winnipeg Free Press reported. "Cunning, clever, conniving and creative. Add some foreign intrigue and this is the stuff movies are made of," Crown attorney Sheila Leinburd told court. Working for a man in London he called "The Boss," Blanchard and his associates had been stealing from bank machines since 2004 with the money funding Kurdish fighters in northern Iraq. "It was to fuel terrorism," Leinburd said.