CLEVELAND — A man has been charged with failing to disclose that he was taking more than $10,000 out of the country after federal agents found him at the airport with nearly $40,000 and 60 endorsed, blank checks.

        Nabeeh Awawdeh, 47, of Lakewood, was en route to Tel Aviv, Israel, to see his family when he was stopped at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

        Mr. Awawdeh, a native of Jordan, was charged Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Cleveland and released on bond.

        Mr. Awawdeh's attorney, Michael Peterson, said criminal charges would never have been filed before the terrorist attacks Sept. 11. He said the government would have simply tried to obtain the money in a civil case.

        “We're much more careful of people taking money in and out of the country, especially people of his ethnic origin,” Mr. Peterson said.

        A U.S. Customs agent asked whether Mr. Awawdeh had more than $10,000 as he boarded a Toronto-bound flight Tuesday night. Mr. Awawdeh said he did not.

        He reached in his pockets and pulled out $9,353, according to the charges.

        Agents then found six checks for $5,000 each in his carry-on luggage. Each check was signed by two people, but the payee spaces were left blank, according to the charges.

        Two books of 30 checks each also were found, with each of the checks signed by a payer, but the payee's name, the dollar amount and the memo field were all blank.

        If convicted, Mr. Awawdeh could be sentenced to five years in prison and fined $250,000.

        Mr. Peterson said the checks found at the airport were all legitimate. He did not know how Mr. Awawdeh got them.

        Mr. Awawdeh was born in the West Bank and moved to the United States in 1979. He has owned a grocery store in Lakewood since 1985.

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