Kenya alleges Dahabshiil employee recruited for al-Shabaab

According to Kenya Media News Agency, an employee of the remittance company Dahabshiil has been charged in Kenya with recruiting fighters to join the terrorist group al-Shabaab.  Abdirizak Mowlana (also spelled Mowlanaa) has been described as “deputy manager” or “assistant manager.”  Dahabshiil operates in dozens of countries.  Mr. Mowlana is said to have held his position in South Africa, but it is unclear whether he managed all South African operations or just one branch office.  If the charges are proven, this news development would be the latest in a long line of red flags about Dahabshiil’s alleged involvement in financing terrorism–allegations which Dahabshiil has previously denied.

Kenya: Video Dahabshiil deputy manager charged with recruiting young Kenyans to Al-Shabaab

Kenyamedia.net – Dozens of men, including Dahabshiil’s deputy manager of South Africa, are charged with recruiting for Al-Shabaab in Kenya.

Abdirizak Mowlana was arrested in Nairobi where he was allegedly recruiting young Kenyan men to Al-Shabaab, a radical Islamic group with ties to the al-Qaeda.

“He ( Mowlanaa) met young Kenyans whom he told that he had jobs in Somalia for them. But we believe that he was taking them to Al-Shabaab to join,” said Joseph, an official for the Kenya Police Criminal Investigation Department (CID).

Kaju, An official from the Kenyan anti-terrorism police said that the agent was investigating his alleged involvement and that he had taken young Kenyans to Somalia twice, where they eventually joined the Somali militants.

“The Assistant Manager of Dahabshiil Mr Mowlanaa has a South African passport and he was a preacher  of the Islamic religion. We introduced each other and often meet the Office of Dahabshiil in Johannesburg, South Africa” Said Mahad Mohamed, a member of the Somali entrepreneurs in South Africa…

UPDATE 3/8/2016:  Money Jihad reached out to Dahabshiil about these allegations prior to the publication of this blog post.  After publication, Dahabshiil responded, “Dahabshiil has confirmed that the accused individual (if he even exists) has no connection whatsoever with Dahabshiil. For the avoidance of doubt, he is not, and has never been, an employee or an agent of Dahabshiil, or otherwise known to Dahabshiil.”

HSBC says bye to Islamic Relief

British bank HSBC has ended its relationship with the Islamic Relief Worldwide (IRW), the largest international Islamic charity in the world. In other words, HSBC has closed IRW’s account with the bank and has given them their money back. The bank’s decision was a risk-based determination probably based—not just on the locations of the world where IRW operates—on a review of IRW partners and what internal controls IRW has in place to ensure that its partner organizations and field staff have been adequately screened.

IRW has a pattern of working with Hamas-affiliated entities and then claiming afterward that it didn’t know. It is either purposeful or negligent. Either way HSBC is not obliged to serve as their bank.  After being excoriated for its slipshod compliance program a couple years ago, HSBC should now be applauded for applying solid standards.

From International Business Times last month:

HSBC snaps ties with Islamic Relief over ‘terror’ fears

• By Agamoni Ghosh

January 4, 2016

HSBC has snapped banking ties with UK’s largest government-funded Muslim charity, Islamic Relief, over alleged fears of terror funding. Although the bank has halted services for other Muslim groups in the past, the affected charity is one of the most high-profile ones with operations in over 40 countries.

Islamic Relief receives millions of pounds from the Department for International Development. It expressed surprise at the bank’s decision, but said that other partners are helping it maintain aid supplies in countries where it operates. The charity added that no other bank or financial institution had withdrawn facilities.

According to The Sunday Times, HSBC may have ended ties with Islamic Relief because of the charity’s work in the Middle East, including projects in Gaza and Syria. Earlier, the Israeli government had banned Islamic Relief from the West Bank in 2014. It accused the organisation of laundering money to Hamas, a claim categorically denied by the charity.

Around the same time, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) had also placed Islamic Relief on a list of forbidden organisations, a move the group is in the process of appealing against. Shortly after these bans, the bank took the decision to cut ties with the organisation, but it has only just become public knowledge.

Meanwhile, the UK Charity Commission ordered an independent investigation into the incident, and cleared Islamic Relief of terror funding allegations…

Seems the Charity Commission is the odd man out, no?

Bribes, waste, and abuse: suggested reading

• The Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps will cash in from sanctions relief on Iran… more>>

• The Swiss may have paid the PLO in 1970 to prevent terrorist attacks in Switzerland… more>>

• Question raised whether Sweden is still funding marksmanship training for Muslim refugees… more>>

• Islamist preacher runs 140 tax-funded charter schools in U.S… more>>

Germany scorns Saudi-funded mosques

This report is dated (from December), but even then it was old news that Saudi Arabia funds terrorism.  The tantalizing aspect of this story is that public officials in Western democracies are actually starting to talk about it openly.  From The Telegraph:

German vice-chancellor accuses Saudi Arabia of funding Islamic extremism in the West

In a highly unusual moment of a Western politician attacking a critical Arab ally, Sigmar Gabriel says the time has come to make it clear to Riyadh the time of looking away is over

By Justin Huggler, Berlin

06 Dec 2015

The German vice-chancellor has publicly accused Saudi Arabia of financing Islamic extremism in the West and warned that it must stop.

Sigmar Gabriel said that the Saudi regime is funding extremist mosques and communities that pose a danger to public security.

“We have to make clear to the Saudis that the time of looking away is over,” Mr Gabriel told Bild am Sonntag newspaper in an interview.

“Wahhabi mosques all over the world are financed by Saudi Arabia. Many Islamists who are a threat to public safety come from these communities in Germany.”

The allegation that Saudi Arabia has funded mosques with links to Islamist terrorism in the West is not new. But it is highly unusual for a Western leader to speak out so directly against the West’s key Arab ally.

Mr Gabriel is Angela Merkel’s deputy and the leader of the German chancellor’s main coalition partner.

His intervention comes just days after German intelligence issued a rare public warning that Saudi Arabia is at risk of becoming a major destabilising force in the Arab world.

Mrs Merkel’s government quickly distanced itself from the BND intelligence service’s assessment, saying it did not reflect official policy.

But Mr Gabriel’s remarks make it clear there are serious misgivings about the Saudi regime within the government.

Wahhabism, a fundamentalist sect of Sunni Islam that inspired both Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (Isil) and al-Qaeda is also the official form of the religion in Saudi Arabia.

The Saudis have long funded the building of Wahhabi mosques around the world to spread the sect.

King Salman has already been widely criticised in the German media for offering to build 200 mosques for Syrian refugees arriving in Germany, even as Saudi Arabia refuses to take in any refugees itself.

Mr Gabriel’s linking of Saudi-funded mosques to Islamic extremism will heighten concerns over the offer…

 

Bangladesh targets alleged Jamaat fronts

Businesses and nonprofit groups in Bangladesh are being scrutinized for their alleged connections to the dangerous Islamist movement Jamaat-e-Islami.  When asked by the Dhaka Tribune how the government of Bangladesh could determine whether or not such entities are connected to Jamaat, Finance Minister AMA Muhith rightly said, “Firstly, we will check the background of the members of board of directors in the institutions. Secondly, we will identify the source of funds of those firms.”

The Dhaka Tribune article included a graphic of “top firms linked to Jamaat men.”  However, please note that the relationship between these firms and Jamaat-e-Islami cannot be confirmed by Money Jihad at this time:

• Islami Bank Foundation*
• Ibn Sina Trust
• Fouad Al-Khateeb Charity Foundation
• Rabita al-Alam al-Islami†
• Agro Industrial Trust
• Daily Sangram
• Daily Naya Diganta
• Manarat Interational University
• International Islamic University Chittagong
• Darul Ihsan University
• Far East Ilsami Life Insurance Company Ltd
• Takaful Islami Insurance Ltd
• Keari Limited
• Coral Reef Properties Ltd
• Education Aid
• Panjeri Publications
• Allama Iqbal Sangsad
• Maududi Research Sangsad
• Al-Mutada Development Society
• Center for Strategy & Peace Studies

* The Islami Bank Foundation is the “charitable” arm of Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited, the notorious terror-linked sharia bank.
† Rabita al-Alam al-Islami is the Saudi-funded Bangladeshi branch of the Muslim World League.