The Justice Department on Thursday announced that it has disrupted a scheme to finance terrorist group Hamas.
The DOJ seized a little over $200,000 in cryptocurrency that was supposed to go toward funding Hamas, according to a press release.
As alleged in court documents, a group chat claiming association with Hamas on an encrypted communications platform provided Hamas supporters worldwide with a changing set of at least 17 cryptocurrency addresses. Supporters were encouraged to donate money to those addresses. Those funds were sent into an operational wallet and laundered through a series of virtual currency exchanges and transactions by leveraging suspected financiers and over-the-counter brokers. More than a million dollars was raised and laundered using the laundering system and the virtual currency accounts described in the affidavit.
Included among the assets seized were cryptocurrency addresses valued at approximately $89,900 and three additional accounts containing cryptocurrency valued at approximately $111,500. These accounts were registered in the names of Palestinian individuals living in Turkey and elsewhere.
U.S. Attorney Edward R. Martin Jr. explained that the seizures “show that this office will search high and low for every cent of money going to fund Hamas” and said the terrorist group “is responsible for the deaths of many U.S. and Israeli nationals.”
“Disrupting funding mechanisms and seizing cryptocurrency from Hamas is one of the FBI’s many tools that we use in the fight against terrorism. The FBI will work with our partners to dismantle this terrorist group and protect the American people from their violent and horrific acts,” said Assistant Director David J. Scott of the FBI Counterterrorism Division.
Hamas receives funding from a myriad of sources. A significant portion comes from state sponsors such as Iran and Qatar. The Iranian regime has given as much as $260 million each year, Reuters reported. Between 2007 and 2021, Qatar has sent about $1.8 billion to the terrorist group.
However, Hamas also obtains funds through charitable organizations and non-government organizations. They raise funds under the guise of humanitarian aid. For example, the U.S. Treasury Department last year imposed sanctions on an Italy-based group called the Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People for funneling millions of dollars to the terrorist group over ten years.
Mohammad Hannoun (Hannoun) is an Italy-based Hamas member who established the Charity Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, or Associazione Benefica di Solidarietà con il Popolo Palestinese (ABSPP), a sham charity in Italy which ostensibly raises funds for humanitarian purposes, but in reality helps bankroll Hamas’s military wing. As an executive at ABSPP, Hannoun has sent money to Hamas-controlled organizations since at least 2018. He has solicited funding for Hamas with senior Hamas officials and sent at least $4 million to Hamas over a 10-year period.
Hamas has been severely weakened by Israel’s offensive in Gaza. Recently, Palestinian civilians in the region staged a massive protest in the streets against Hamas, calling for peace. This could never have happened while Hamas had full control of Gaza because the organization routinely silenced speech, imprisoning and even executing those who spoke out publicly against the regime. Cutting off more of the group’s funding will further weaken it.
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