DOJ arrests two for allegedly aiding ISIS through Bitcoin, PayPal transfers

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has indicted two men, Abdullah At Taqi and Mohammed David Hashimi, for conspiring and attempting to provide material support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), a designated foreign terrorist organization, using Bitcoin, PayPal, and other forms of electronic currency.

According to reports, the two suspects were arraigned and convicted in a federal court in Brooklyn, New York. The duo was convicted by a jury on all charges of an indictment charging them with conspiring and attempting to provide material relief to the terrorist organization. In addition, Hashimi and At Taqi were also charged with money laundering.

DOJ convicts two for aiding ISIS

According to the DOJ, Hashimi had already pleaded guilty to all the counts of indictment on October 6, the day the jury selection was scheduled to begin. The DOJ claimed that At Taqi sent Bitcoin in 15 separate transactions to a certain Osama Obeida, a self-proclaimed ISIS member, over the course of a year. In a conversation with a confidential source online, At Taqi claimed that he used digital assets to send money “unnoticed” through a “brother,” which typically meant another ISIS follower.

In later conversations, At Taqi told the confidential source, through an encrypted communications platform, that the brother, who had been sending cryptocurrency, had gotten back in touch. In other conversations, the DOJ claims that he assured the confidential source that he was sure the brother was from Dawlah, referring to ISIS. The agency mentioned that the brother who was being used in this conversation was Obeida. In a later conversation, he introduced Obeida to the confidential source, vouching for him.

After Obeida got in touch with the confidential source, he mentioned that he had known At Taqi for about two years, and in that time, he had been sending him money regularly. Obeida also sent the confidential source a photograph of an ISIS flag and weapons, showing the other party at the end of the line that the money Obeida got from the defendant was used to purchase weapons for ISIS fighters. He added a time stamp to the photograph to prove that it was taken in real time.

Suspects used BTC, PayPal, and GoFundMe

The other defendant, Hashimi, was part of a group chat for ISIS supporters on an encrypted platform. In April 2021, members of the group chat discussed posting links that would be used to raise funds for humanitarian efforts, but noted that the money would be diverted to help ISIS. The DOJ claimed a co-conspirator posted a Bitcoin address, and another posted a PayPal link, both of which were under the control of Obeida. In response, Hashimi warned the members of the group to be careful as they could be detected by law enforcement.

According to the DOJ, Obeida was sent thousands of dollars, with the funds coming from their campaigns across platforms, including Bitcoin, PayPal, and GoFundMe. Aside from Obeida, other co-conspirators identified were Hashimi, At Taqi, a third defendant named Seema Rahman, and another one named Khalilullah Yousuf. The group contributed more than $24,000 to Obeida’s Bitcoin address, with Yousuf responsible for $20,347 of the entire funds. Others contributed between $2,000 and $900 to the wallet.

The defendants also sent funds into the PayPal account operated by Obeida, creating several charitable campaigns on GoFundMe, where they raised $10,000 and sent the funds to individuals connected to Obeida using Western Union. At sentencing, each individual is expected to face a maximum penalty of 60 years in prison. Rahman had also pleaded guilty earlier this year to charges of providing material to support a terrorist organization and was awaiting sentencing.

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