Mujahideen paid by D-Gang’s hawala

The Indian Mujahideen finance their jihadist operations with money distributed through terror mogul Dawood Ibrahim’s illegal hawala network.  While it has long been known that Dawood Ibrahim is a bankroller for terrorism, his specific ties to the Indian Mujahideen are what makes this article from the Hindustan Times newsworthy:

Is Dawood funding Indian terror?

Presley Thomas     Mumbai, May 03, 2013

Dawood Ibrahim, the man who maimed Mumbai on March 12, 1993, has emerged as the face behind homegrown terrorist outfit Indian Mujahideen (IM). Dawood and his intricate network of bogus hawala firms, spread across the country, have been covertly financing IM’s network in India, said sources in the central agencies and counter-terrorism units investigating blast cases across the country.

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) has been informed of Dawood’s alleged extensive hawala network in the Middle East and South Asian countries. A detailed probe by the Anti-Money Laundering / Suspicious Cases Unit (AMLU) is underway in the Middle East, sources said.

The involvement of Dawood’s  gang, the D-Company, in financing terror through his network of hawala firms was unearthed during investigations into the July 13, 2011 blasts in Mumbai, (where the IM was allegedly involved) said sources in central agencies and counter-terrorism units. Many key players in the attacks are suspected to have links with Dawood.

A sum of Rs. 10 lakh had been sent by alleged hawala operator Muzzafar Kola to IM kingpin Yasin Bhatkal through Delhi-based Kanwar Nain Pathrija, police sources said. The investigating agencies then suspected the involvement of the D-Company and intercepted telephone conversations from across the border showed directions being given to certain people, along with details of the money flow and transfers through hawala transactions. Kola, sources said, was a Mustafa Dossa man who later became a Dawood associate.

These reports led agencies to believe that Bhatkal, a Fazal-ur-Rehman gang member who now heads the IM, was working closely with Dawood and his company…

SIMI hotbed gets Saudi support

Aligarh Muslim University (AMU) in northern India, the birthplace of the militant group Student Islamic Movement of India (SIMI), receives support from Saudi Arabia, which also funds SIMI itself:

• In 2006, SIMI and Lashkar-e-Taiba carried out a pressure cooker bombing that killed 209 train passengers in Mumbai.  SIMI was involved with other smaller but still lethal bombings throughout the 2000s.  This February, three SIMI activists were detained for questioning in regards to explosions that killed 18 in Hyderabad.
• SIMI was founded at AMU, a public university in Uttar Pradesh, India, in 1977.
• AMU mostly makes the news today for “violent incidents in campus, arrest of its students and alumni for involvement in various terrorist attacks in India,” the possible presence of Al Qaeda on campus, and the financial improprieties of AMU vice chancellor P. K. Abdul Azis.
• Last year, Vice Chancellor Azis traveled to Riyadh and announced his intentions to obtain financial support from public and private Saudi entities for the expansion of an Arabic teaching and research facility at AMU.  Azis also indicated that a high-powered delegation from a Saudi university met with AMU officials the previous year to identify areas of joint cooperation within AMU’s engineering and technology college.
• The South Asia Terrorism Portal also reports that SIMI itself receives “generous financial assistance” from Saudi Arabia:

…SIMI reportedly secures generous financial assistance from the World Assembly of Muslim Youth (WAMY), Riyadh, and also maintains close links with the International Islamic Federation of Students’ Organizations (IIFSO) in Kuwait.

It also receives generous funds from contacts in Pakistan. The Chicago-based Consultative Committee of Indian Muslims is also reported to have supported SIMI morally and financially…

• SIMI considers the United States as an “enemy of Islam” and held demonstrations across India in 1998 against American military presence in Saudi Arabia at the time, and adopted a “pro-Taliban stance” after 9/11.

Rivers of fake money flow into India

A flood of counterfeit notes from Dubai, Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir, Nepal, Bangladesh, and to some extent from Sri Lanka have left Indians swimming in a pool of devalued rupees.

The fake Indian currency note crisis is benefiting terrorist organizations such as Hizbul Mujahideen and Dawood Ibrahim’s D-Gang with backing from the Pakistani ISI spy service.  Profits from counterfeiting help militants buy weapons.

There seems to be a new story from Indian media every two weeks or so documenting the surging problem.  Here’s the latest from the Times of India, which illustrates both the J&K and Bangladeshi points of ingress for bogus bills, and the jihadist beneficiaries:

NIA files charges against 3 for raising terror funds for Hizbul Mujahideen

TNN Apr 12, 2013

NEW DELHI: The National Investigation Agency (NIA) has filed charge sheet against three more persons, including a Bangladeshi national, for allegedly raising terror fund for the banned outfit Hizbul Mujahideen (HM) through circulation of fake Indian currency notes (FICN) in Jammu & Kashmir.

The charge sheet against the three accused Badal Sheikh and Fayaz Ahmed (both Indians) and Shafiq-ul (Bangladeshi) was filed in the NIA Special Court in Jammu under various sections of the Ranbir Penal Code and the central anti-terror Act on Wednesday.

The Court subsequently issued a non-bailable warrant against absconding Shafiq-ul who was key point person of the Indian accused for supplying FICN through a trans-border cattle smuggler – Badal Sheikh — of West Bengal’s Malda district.

Earlier, the probe agency had filed charge sheet against five persons in the case, alleging that the accused used to procure and supply high quality FICN from Bangladesh and smuggle it into Jammu & Kashmir for raising funds for the terror group.

The five who were charge sheeted earlier include two HM members – Mubarak Ahmed Bhat and Shafaqat Mohiudding Kuchey – and Badal Sheikh.

The NIA in its charge sheet claimed that HM operatives had first contacted Badal who, in turn, approached the Bangladeshi national for procurement of FICN.

“Fayaz Ahmed Rather – a notorious FICN smuggler – started getting high quality fake Indian currency notes from Malda and circulate it in Jammu & Kashmir,” said the NIA.

It’s interesting to note the cattle rustling connection in this story.  The black market in cows, which are revered and illegal to export from India, is a growing area for illicit trade along the border of India and Bangladesh.

Mumbai: bank robberies and bitcoin fund terror

The Indian Mujahideen have been using bank robberies to finance their activities according to a former high-ranking law enforcement official.  D. Sivanandhan is also concerned about bitcoin’s role in funding militants, but it should be noted that no evidence or data are included in this news report:

Banks looted to finance terrorism: Security expert

Mumbai, April 11 (IANS) Bit coin and crypto currencies are becoming major avenues for money laundering and terror groups often rob banks for funding terrorist acts, a top security expert said.

“Investigations have revealed that the hijackers of the Indian Airlines IC-814 had looted a bank three months before the (Kandahar) hijack, which helped them finance the entire terror operations,” said former Maharashtra director general of police and security expert D. Sivanandhan.

Similarly, the terror outfit Indian Mujahideen has also been allegedly involved in several bank robberies to finance its operations, Sivanandhan said at a conference — ‘Leveraging Innovative Security Solutions for Banks and Financial Institutions’ — that concluded here late Wednesday…

See related Money Jihad coverage of bank robberies for jihad here, here, and here, and background on the Indian Mujahideen’s financial activities, which include hawala and extortion, here.

India: hawala is 30 percent of terror revenues

Hawala, the traditional Islamic system of transferring money and debts, is essentially outlawed in India.  However, the practice, which is difficult to trace and lends itself well to illicit financial activity, is still commonplace.  A recent article in the news website Rediff.com asserts that 10 percent of all such hawala transactions in India go toward funding terrorism, and that 30 percent of terrorists’ money comes from hawala.  Much of it is transferred from the Gulf (including Dubai) to Kerala, a hotspot for terror finance.

Time to revisit hawala policy?  Money Jihad thinks so.

H/t to Bob Connors.

Crores being pumped into India by ISI to finance terror

Apr. 1, 2013

In almost every hawala deal, 10 per cent of the amount goes towards terror funding, reports Vicky Nanjappa  

A sharp rise in the number of terror financing cases in 2012 in India is an indicator to how well terror groups have channelized their resources.

According to the Financial Intelligence Unit, in 2009, the number of terror financing cases was recorded at 200 but rose to 1,400 cases in 2012.

The FIU report states that the Inter-Services Intelligence in Pakistan manages to raise Rs 1,800 crore annually to fund terrorist activities especially against India. Today, the Intelligence units say that the amount has shot up to Rs 2,400 crore, as the intensity of their programme against India too is expected to see a rise.

In the past, the ISI adopted to circulating fake Indian currency, ensuring that a certain amount of money through hawala transactions, extortions and drug trade was handed over to them.

As per the latest FIU report, there have been 1,444 cases of terror financing last year. In 2011 the figures were 428 cases and in 2010 it was 316.

Sources in the Intelligence Bureau say that out of the 1,444 cases, almost 65 per cent are related to fake currency.

Last year, around 3,20,000 fake notes of Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 denominations were found, while the year before that around 2,50,000 notes were found.

Sources say that while fake currency accounted for a major chunk of terror financing, hawala transactions accounted for at least 30 per cent. In almost every hawala deal, 10 per cent of the amount goes towards terror funding. The biggest hawala transactions have been from the Gulf to Kerala. Proof of such transactions being used for terror related activities was found during the 2006 train bombings in which an amount of Rs 4.5 lakh was exchanged to carry out the attack.

The Indian Mujahideen in particular has a dedicated network through which it collects money in Delhi. The money is wired from Gulf to Kerala and then to New Delhi…

Black money news: recommended reading

• Jiminy cricket! Our friend El Grillo says a “Stockholm suicide bomber falsely claimed student loans to fund his terrorist activity.”  The latest case of debt financing the jihad… more>>

• The good news is that Indian financial institutions are getting better about filing suspicious transaction reports. The bad news is that it makes it look like India has experienced a 300 percent increase in terrorist financing activity since last year.  Maybe they have… more>>

• Which way is the wind blowing?  Towards Iran.  Just ask Europe about its renewable energy sanctions waiver for Iranian wind power.  Thanks to Willauer Prosky for sending this in… more>>

• International financial watchdog FATF is supposed to counter the financing of terrorism. But lately it seems more focused on getting countries to pass meaningless laws and high-fiving itself… more from Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld>>

• Money Jihad has covered the illicit wildlife trade, particularly in cheetahs by rich Arab buyers. But even we didn’t know how extensive the cheetah market has become in Dubai.  No reporting yet on how the smugglers use the revenues… more>>

ISI offers rewards to fund terror attacks on India

NewsX, a 24-hour Indian news channel, reports that Pakistan’s ISI spy service has established a terrorist “rate card”—a document describing different terrorist acts and the rates of payment offered to those carrying out such attacks.

NewsX further reports that the beheading of Indian soldier Jawan Hemraj in early January was carried out in coordination with the ISI by Lashkar-e-Taiba and Jaish Muhammad operatives for 5 lakh (ie, 500,000) rupees. In Pakistani rupees, that’s about 5,000 USD per beheading.

Note to Western viewers:  the flashy style of news delivery on Indian television may seem a bit overwhelming at first, but the information itself is extremely valuable:

The reward scheme also includes 5,000 rupees for placing land mines on Indian soil and 10,000 rupees to kill an Indian soldier in a firefight.

A profile of Lashkar-e-Taiba’s paymasters

Lashkar-e-Taiba logo

In addition to expatriate donors such as Tahawwur Rana, charity funneled through its Jamaat-ud-Dawa front group, private donors from rich Arabs in the Gulf, zakat collections in Kashmiri mosques, and hawala, the terrorist organization Lashkar-e-Taiba (meaning Army of the Pure) relies on state sponsorship from the Pakistan’s ISI spy service.

The Encyclopedia of Modern Worldwide Extremists and Extremist Groups says that LeT “was founded in 1987 with funding provided by Saudi Islamist Osama bin laden.  Both financial and material support for the Lashkar-e-Taiba has also come from the Pakistan security forces Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).”

In his book Obama’s War, investigative journalist Bob Woodward says LeT “was created and continues to be supported by the Pakistani ISI.”

Asia Times provided these details last year about LeT’s financing:

…LeT runs a number of training centers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwah province, Sindh, Balochistan, Punjab and Pakistan-administered Kashmir. The objective is to have an office and a center in every district of Pakistan. LeT spends about US$330 on each trainee for its Daura-e-Aam (basic) course and about $1,700 per trainee in the advanced three-month course, with running costs in excess of $5 million a year.

The army and the ISI make contributions at training camps, with Pakistan’s Herald Magazine reporting in June 2006 that ISI payoffs have reached as much as $50,000-60,000 every month. The other key source of LeT money is Islamic charities across the world, particularly those based in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) . Inside Pakistan, LeT acts primarily as a Dawa group promoting a radical interpretation of Islam, much on the lines of its Wahhabi patrons in the Gulf.

These links brings LeT an enormous amount of petro-dollars through donations to madrassas and mosques in Punjab. In 2008, the US estimated these funds at over $100 million a year. Some Pakistani business houses in Punjab also support the group by giving money and food…

If the estimate is accurate that Lashkar-e-Taiba receives over $100 million a year, that would place LeT it in the top tier of the best financed terrorist organizations in the world above al-Shabaab and closing in on Hamas.

LeT’s stated objective is:

[U]niting Indian administered Kashmir (IAK) with Pakistan under a radical interpretation of Islamic law. LeT’s broader objectives include to establish an Islamic Caliphate across the Indian subcontinent, and to reclaim all ‘occupied Muslim lands’ in southern Spain and the Balkans. To this end, LeT intends to pursue the ‘liberation’, not only of Muslim-majority Kashmir, but of all India’s Muslim population, even in areas where they do not form a majority. LeT has declared that democracy is antithetical to Islamic law and that LeT’s jihad requires it to work toward turning Pakistan itself into a purely Islamic state.

All previous Money Jihad coverage of LeT can be found here.

Terror financier sentenced to 14 years

Tahawwur Rana, an Islamic extremist who used a Chicago front company to fund the Pakistani jihadist group Lashkar-e-Taiba, has been sentenced to 14 years in federal prison.  Rana also bankrolled activities of his lifelong friend David Coleman Headley, the lead scout behind the 26/11 Mumbai terrorist attacks—attacks which were also funded by Pakistan’s ISI spy service via Lashkar-e-Taiba.

Headley himself was sentenced to 35 years in prison yesterday.  He was largely responsible for the deaths of over 160 people including six Americans.  U.S. officials claimed that Headley was cooperative with investigators.  Eric Holder authorized prosecutors not to seek the death penalty, and the prosecutors didn’t even seek a life sentence in light of Headley’s “cooperation.”

Asked if he was remorseful about the loss of life, Headley simply said “they were Indians.”

Pakistani “charity” funds terror training camps

Pakistan-occupied Kashmir hosts rallies to enlist support for Lashkar-e-Taiba training camps.  Current and former government officials from Pakistan are involved.  Money for the camps is passed through Jamaat-ud-Dawa, an Islamic charity.  Local residents say the jihadist militants now live in luxury from the proceeds.  From HalalPorkShop via Patria Judía:

See prior Money Jihad coverage of Jamaat-ud-Dawa here.  This is another illustration of how zakat funds terrorism against “infidel” nations like India.  The 26/11 terrorist attacks against Mumbai were financed through these Kashmir jihadist activities.

Indian terror cells getting Saudi support

The Daily News & Analysis reports on two possible terror financial transactions confessed by alleged members of Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) doing work for the Indian Mujahideen:  1)  one suspect made an extortion threat against a Mumbai hotel owner for 20 million Indian rupees, and 2)  Khan spent 2.5 million rupees just to meet Fayyaz Kagzi, a Saudi-based LeT recruiter, trainer, and financier.  If true, expect to see more stories of terror cells in India that received hawala money from Kagzi to finance their operations.

IM extorted money to fund terror activities

The special cell of Delhi police,which has arrested three suspected militants of the Indian Mujahideen (IM), has found that the extortion money was reportedly being used to fund their terror activities.

The police are probing their alleged role in the bomb blasts in Pune on August 1.

One of the arrested suspects had demanded Rs2 crore from a hotelier in Mumbai as extortion.

The Delhi police on Thursday had claimed that they have solved the August 1 Pune bomb blast case with the arrest of Asad Khan, 33, Imran Khan, 31, and Sayed Feroz, 38. All three are suspected members of the Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) and were working for the IM.

During Imran’s interrogation the police found that before getting involved in terror-related activities, he was involved in an alleged case of extortion.

A police officer on condition of anonymity said that a few years ago Imran had demanded Rs2 crore from a Mumbai-based hotelier. “We are trying to get more details and trying to find out if the money was actually paid to Imran and how he spent it,” the officer said.

The investigations and interrogations of Asad Khan has revealed that he was the ideologue of this module and was self-motivated. Asad was inspired by jihad on social networking sites and was self-indoctrinated. Later, he drew inspiration from Fayyaz Kagzi, whom he met on a social networking site.

Asad travelled to middle-east, especially Saudi Arabia, several times to meet Kagzi and spent as much as Rs25 lakh to meet Kagzi.

According to the police, Kagzi is a Saudi Arabia-based activist of LeT and is in charge of their India operations. “Kagzi recruits and trains fresh youngsters and also ensures they get money through hawala. Investigations have revealed that Kagzi has played a much bigger role in LeT’s India operations than we had thought,” a police officer said.

What has surprised the investigators is the huge amount of Rs25 lakh which Asad is believed to have spent to meet Kagzi. “We want to know the source and we are probing that,” the officer said.

The investigators learnt that none of the three arrested suspects were identified, indoctrinated and recruited by any militant group or individual. “From what they have revealed so far, they got self-motivated or self-indoctrinated through the internet and various social networking sites,” a senior officer said.

Hawala is a traditional Islamic method of transferring money that makes it difficult to trace and useful to terrorists.