Federal investigators have seized more than 300 cryptocurrency accounts for ferrying millions of dollars to terrorist groups including ISIS and Hamas’s military wing.
“These actions represent the government’s largest-ever seizure of cryptocurrency in the terrorism context,” the Justice Department said in today’s announcement.
Through court-authorized warrants, the US government managed to confiscate $2 million in virtual currencies, according to CNN. Allegedly, the terrorist groups were using cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin as a way to take donations through their online fundraising activities.
For instance, Hamas’ military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades, began promoting their fundraising campaigns in early 2019 by using Twitter accounts and their own websites. Supporters were asked to send bitcoin to digital wallets, at least some of which were hosted by a US cryptocurrency exchange.
(Credit: Justice Department)
“The al-Qassam Brigades boasted that bitcoin donations were untraceable and would be used for violent causes,” the Justice Department said. However, federal officials managed to track the donations by identifying the digital wallets and analyzing activity over the Bitcoin blockchain.
The virtual funds were then usually converted into fiat with the help of money launderers, including two Turkish individuals named Mehmet Akti and Hüsamettin Karataş. The US has unsealed charges against both for running an unlicensed money transmitting business. The al-Qassam Brigades's websites have also been taken down.
In the case of Al-Qaeda, the terrorist group also used the cryptocurrencies as a vehicle to take donations. The fundraising was promoted on the messaging app Telegram in addition to Twitter.
(Credit: Justice Department)
“In some instances, (the fund raising activities) purported to act as charities when, in fact, they were openly and explicitly soliciting funds for violent terrorist attacks. For example, one post from a charity sought donations to equip terrorists in Syria with weapons,” the Justice Department said.
However, the fundraising schemes weren’t limited to only cryptocurrency. The US government also claims an ISIS supporter named Murat Cakar based in Turkey was pretending to sell fake N95 masks online at FaceMaskCenter.com.
(Credit: Justice Department)
“The website claimed to sell FDA approved N95 respirator masks, when in fact the items were not FDA approved,” Justice Department said. The site, which was created in Feb. 26, also claimed to have a near unlimited supply of N95 masks, which prompted a US customer to purchase some to supply hospitals, nursing homes and fire departments.
Federal officials have since seized the website along with four Facebook pages used to promote the scam. As for the seized cryptocurrency, the US plans on redirecting the confiscated money to a special fund the government uses to pay victims of state-sponsored terrorism.
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