The Justice Department on Thursday announced the “dismantling of three cyber-enabled terrorist financing campaigns”, targeting efforts by the al-Qassam Brigades – the military wing of Hamas – Al Qaeda and ISIS.
U.S. officials said these terrorist groups used cryptocurrency and social media to raise money from around the world for their operations. U.S. authorities have now used legal warrants to seize millions of dollars from more than 300 cryptocurrency accounts, four websites, and four Facebook pages related to the ‘criminal enterprise’ of the terrorist groups.
“It should come as no surprise that our enemies use modern technology, social media platforms and cryptocurrency to facilitate their malicious and violent agendas,” said Attorney General William Barr. “We will pursue their money laundering, terrorist financing and violent illegal activities wherever we find them. And, as announced today, we will occupy the funds and instrumentalities that provide a lifeline for their operations, whenever possible. “
The Department of Justice says the al-Qassam Brigades, on their websites, “boasted that bitcoin donations were not traceable and would be used for violent causes.” (Justice Department)
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The DOJ said forgetting funds linked to a state sponsor of terrorism could be directed to the Fund of the U.S. Victims of State Sponsored Terrorism after the end of the investigation.
“Terrorist networks have adapted to technology, carrying out complex financial transactions in the digital world, including through cryptocurrencies,” said Treasury Secretary Steven T. Mnuchin. “Today’s actions demonstrate our continued commitment to holding evil actors accountable for their crimes.”
In total, the Justice Department seized $ 2 million of crypto-accounts linked to the three groups, according to John Demers, a senior official with its National Security Division.
“Two million is a lot of equipment, a lot of maps to fly people around the world … this represents an important belly. This will make a big difference in their operations,” he told Fox News.
The Justice Department says Al Qaeda “means a money laundering network using Bitcoin using Telegram channels and other social media platforms to solicit crypto donations to improve its terrorist targets.” (Justice Department)
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The Department of Justice, in a press release, said the al-Qassam Brigades last year launched their online funding efforts with “a call on their social media site for donations of bitcoin to fund their campaign of terror.”
The request was then moved to three of its official websites, where the terrorist group “boasts that bitcoin donations were not traceable and would be used for violent causes.”
“Their websites have provided video instructions on how to make donations anonymously, in part using unique bitcoin addresses generated for each individual donor,” the release said.
However, the Justice Department said the donations were not anonymous and investigators “tracked down and found all 150 cryptocurrency accounts that found funds to and from the al-Qassam Brigades’ accounts.”
Investigators with judicial authorization created the infrastructure of the three websites and “during that secret operation, [one of the websites] received funds from individuals who wanted to provide material support to the terrorist organization, however, they donated the funds instead [into] bitcoin wallets are regulated by the United States, ”the release added.
ISIS tried to raise money by selling fake PPE, says the Justice Department. Shown here is a website created for that effort. (Justice Department)
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As for Al Qaeda, the Justice Department says it has run a scheme with other affiliated terrorist groups, largely from Syria.
“As details of the allegation of counterfeiting, these terrorist organizations operate a money laundering network with bitcoin via Telegram channels and other social media platforms to solicit crypto donations to increase their terrorist targets,” the release said. “In some cases, they presented themselves to act as charities when, in fact, they openly and explicitly demanded money for violent terrorist attacks.”
The Department of Justice also said the ISIS effort was run by a ‘facilitator’ who claimed to be ‘selling FDA-approved N95 respirator masks’ to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.
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The managers behind a website created for that scam “offered to sell these items to customers around the world, including a customer in the United States who was looking to purchase N95 masks and other protective equipment for hospitals, nursing homes, and fire department, “the release said.
“There is a clear indication that the purpose of this fraud scheme was people in the United States,” a Justice Department official told Fox News.
