British Hamas donors active now in Syria

Three Islamic charities based in the U.K. who have funded projects administered by a Hamas “charitable” have also become involved with a radical Syrian aid convoy, according to a new report. The UK Charity Commission is proving itself, as usual, to be asleep at the switch with respect to such charities that are exploiting Britain as a financial base to fund jihad around the world.

Special thanks to Ayre for sending in this report from Stand for Peace:

Three UK charities fund Hamas charitable front

Three UK charities involved with Syrian ‘aid convoy’ efforts – Children in Deen, the Abu Faisal Trust and One Nation – are funding projects in Gaza run by the Al-Falah Benevolent Society (a.k.a. Al-Falah Society or Al-Falah Charitable Society). The Al-Falah Society is  one of “Hamas’s charitable societies”, according to the Meir Amit Intelligence and Terrorism Information Center.

The OPEC Fund for International Development notes that it is funded by “institutions in the Arab, Islamic and international world who believe in the right of the Palestinian people to liberate their land”. It is run by Ramadan Tamboura (aka Ramadan Tanbura), who Ha’aretz newspaper reports is “a well-known Hamas figure”.

One Nation is part of the Aid for Syria convoy, which, as Stand for Peace has previously uncovered, is involved with a number of key extremist preachers in the UK. Aid for Syria convoys include trucks named after the convicted terrorist Aafia Siddiqui…

Read the rest at Stand for Peace here.

Front charity news: recommended reading

• The Shakhsiyah Foundation receives £70,000 a year in taxpayer money even though Prime Minister Cameron called it a front charity for extremism… more>>

• Two would-be jihadists from North Carolina intended to use charity as a cover story for their mission overseas… more>>

• The Turkish “charity” IHH funds and supports Hamas, but has yet to be designated as a terrorist organization by the Obama administration… more>>

• İMKANDER, another Turkish charity, has taken to the streets in a massive rally to eulogize Doku Umarov, the terror chief of the Islamic Caucasus Emirate (h/t Ayre)… more>>

• A Dutch money launderer has signed his own death warrant by stealing $35,000 from a Hamas front charity… more>>

 

Illicit transfer news: recommended reading

• Eight have been arrested in raids over zakat raised in Britain to fund terrorism in Syria… more>>

• Is a millionaire bitcoin trader copping a plea over money laundering allegations?  More>>

• By sea, land, and air—Iran’s history of busted arms smuggling operations is exposed… more>>

• Speaking of Iranian weapons trafficking, Iraq has been a helpful facilitator to their neighbor lately… more>>

Terror funding news: recommended reading

Thanks to Gisele, Sal, El Grillo and all those who sent in tips.

• “Turkey has become a principal financial hub for terrorists under the leadership of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan,” writes Adam Kredo… more>>

• Cultural property like art and antiquities are susceptible to exploitation in money laundering and terror finance schemes, but federal law doesn’t quite make the connection. Rick St. Hilaire explains… more>>

• British sanctions target Pakistani jihad financiers and millionaire terrorist Dawood Ibrahim… more>>

• Ten thousand dollars in farm subsidies have gone to a terror funding co-conspirator that grows no crops… more>>

“Charity worker” dies while driving truckload of bombs for al-Nusra

A British Muslim who raised £140,000 from supporters in England killed himself in Syria while driving a truck full of explosives into an Aleppo prison. The flags of al-Nusra Front, Al Qaeda’s affiliate in Syria, were found on the scene.

British police are rightly concerned that other Britons fighting in Syria will return to the U.K. to continue their jihad.  The authorities would do well to be concerned also about the use of “charitable” fundraisers in Britain to finance the purchase of weapons and explosives for the battlefronts of the Middle East.

From the Daily Mail on Feb. 13 (with a hat tip to Vlad Tepes):

Are Syria charities a front for Jihadists? Fears convoys in the country are being used to help militants after thousands in cash is seized

• Security services fear the relief effort is being hijacked by radical Islamists
• British suicide bomber Abdul Waheed Majeed travelled to Syria under the banner of carrying out charitable work
• 41-year-old died when he drove a dumper truck full of explosives into the gates of Aleppo prison last week
• He was revealed as a former driver for hate cleric Omar Bakri
• Met Police Commissioner ‘deeply concerned’ at threat posed by British jihadists returning from the war zone after being radicalised there

By Chris Greenwood and Emine Sinmaz and Inderdeep Bains

Charity aid convoys are at the centre of a counter terrorism investigation over fears they are supporting Al-Qaeda militants in Syria.

Tens of thousands of pounds in cash has already been seized from relief vehicles travelling from Britain to the war-torn state.

Security services fear the huge relief effort is being hijacked by radical Islamists determined to support networks of violent jihadists.

Yesterday Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe said he remains deeply concerned at the threat posed by returning British jihadists.

‘We have not changed the policy,’ he said. ‘We are concerned about the number of British people going to Syria for humanitarian reasons or to get involved in the war that is happening.

‘There are a few hundred people going out there. They may be injured or killed, but our biggest worry is when they return they are radicalised, they may be militarised, they may have a network of people that train them to use weapons.’

British Home Counties suicide bomber Abdul Waheed Majeed, 41, was among those who travelled to Syria under the banner of charitable work.

He joined an aid convoy after his Crawley mosque raised more than £140,000 to help refugees in just a few months.

Volunteers travelled the 2,000 mile journey in a fleet of old ambulances loaded with supplies, including food, bedding and medical equipment.

But Majeed left them to kill himself by driving an armoured dumper lorry laden with explosives into the gates of Aleppo prison last week.

The vehicle was draped in the flags of Jabhat al-Nusra, an extremist faction aligned to al-Qaeda and banned in Britain.

Further details of how the father-of-three was radicalised emerged yesterday as hate preacher Omar Bakri revealed he was a close aide.

The cleric, barred from Britain almost nine years ago, said Majeed was a key member of his banned organisation Al-Muhajiroun.

Bakri said he worked as his driver between his North London home and Crawley, where he nurtured a power base of militant supporters…

Hawala used to launder £20 million in England

A British trial has revealed that criminal gangs have been laundering drug money by sending it through hawala and conventional banking channels from England to a hawala dealer overseas to send back to the gangsters in the U.K.

Despite the seriousness of the underlying crime, four of the men involved in the scheme have received light sentences ranging from three years in prison to supervised release with no prison time.  The sentencing is reminiscent of that of New York hawala dealer Faisal Shahzad, who funded the failed Times Square bomber and got off with probation.

Meanwhile, law enforcement and financial regulators continue to make marginal or piecemeal recommendations for how to protect financial markets and the public from the inherent risk of hawala transactions.  One simple idea would be to impose tougher penalties and longer sentences for hawala crimes.

From the Liverpool Echo on Jan. 17 (h/t Arun):

Gang who laundered more than £20m using ancient Islamic system jailed

Two Liverpool men part of four man gang

Two Liverpool men who helped launder more than £20m of drugs money through banks were spared prison.

The money is believed to have been laundered using legitimate bank accounts and an ancient  Islamic money lending system.

Kamran Butt and Instar Ahmed, from Greater Manchester and Liverpool men Steven McKenna and Sean Moore were put under surveillance by police in two undercover operations.

But officers found they were linked when Butt and Ahmed were seen depositing money into  the same bank accounts.

The money was transferred to the defendants, who were recruited by operatives in the Middle East, using the ‘Hawala’ system – an informal Islamic way of lending money based on honour agreements and third-party lenders.

A fifth man, named in court as ‘Akhtar’, was also heavily involved – but was deported to  Pakistan in 2012 and has not been traced since.

Watched by undercover police, Akhtar and Ahmed were seen depositing huge sums of money  at banks in Chorlton, Longsight and Manchester city centre.

The two men would travel to branches of Lloyds, HSBC and Halifax together but then pretend  not to know each other once inside.

Ahmed also worked in partnership with others in the gang.

Manchester Crown Court heard how on Monday, August 22, 2011, police intercepted Ahmed and McKenna and seized three rucksacks stuffed with more than £200,000 in cash.

On another occasion, Moore was seen with Butt in his Mercedes car.

Butt was stopped and a bag was seized, which was found to contain about £120,000 in cash.

His Stretford home was then searched and a further £10,000 was seized.Cash receipts in vehicles traced to the four men showed they were paying in anywhere from £500 to £10,000 a time.All the money is believed to have come from criminal gangs, mainly through drug sales.

The criminal cash was given to a Hawala money lender abroad who then transferred the  money to a Hawala lender in the UK and gave them a password.

This password was then passed onto one of the defendants allowing them to collect the cash.

They then paid the money into bank accounts in Manchester which the criminals had access to.

The court heard the four defendants were the bottom of the chain – below controllers and then  co-ordinators, working as collectors to receive the money, deliver it and pay it into various bank accounts in the UK.

After being caught, all four defendants pleaded guilty – Moore to two charges of money  laundering and Butt, McKenna and Ahmed to one charge of money laundering each.

Butt, of Great Stone Road, Stretford, was believed to be behind £12m in laundered cash, and  was sentenced to three years and six months.

Ahmed, of Kelstern Square, Rusholme, who is believed to have laundered £10m also received  a sentence of three years, six months.

Moore, of Kingfisher Grove, Liverpool, and McKenna, of Maley Street, Liverpool, both received  14 month sentences suspended for 12 months and 12 month supervision orders.

Moore was ordered to carry out 108 hours unpaid work and McKenna 150 hours…

Covert finance news: suggested reading

• Considering that Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E. fund al-Nusra Front, which other chapters of Al Qaeda are they financing?… more>>

• The U.S. and British pause in arming the rebels hasn’t deterred Turkey’s gunrunning program to Syria. They’ve just dropped off almost 50 tons of weapons across the border… more>>

• How an Al Qaeda acolyte used a stun gun on the streets of London to mug and fund his personal jihad to Syria… more>>

• The risks of banking and doing business deals in Turkey has grown too great… more>>

 

Brits push UN to ban ransom payments (again)

This time we really mean it!

Not sure what this proposed resolution will accomplish since paying ransoms to terrorists already violates U.N. Resolution 1904.  Maybe the proposal would actually give teeth to 1904, but the text of the proposed resolution does not appear to be available online from either the British foreign office or the U.N.

But at least they’re drawing attention to the phenomenon which enriches terrorist groups and puts upward pressure on the size of ransoms demanded globally.  From the Associated Press on Dec. 4:

UN urged to end paying ransom to terrorists

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — Britain is urging the U.N. Security Council to adopt a resolution calling on all countries not to pay ransom to kidnappers who use the money to finance terrorist groups.

Britain’s U.N. Ambassador Mark Lyall Grant said Wednesday his government estimates that over the last three years more than $70 million has been provided to al-Qaida and other terrorist groups from ransom paid to kidnappers.

Lyall Grant said he circulated a draft resolution to council members Tuesday calling on the 193 U.N. member states “to prevent terrorists from benefiting directly or indirectly from ransom payments.”

A U.N. resolution adopted weeks after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks in the United States already bans all countries from financing terrorism.

But Lyall Grant said the proposed new resolution highlights “the increasing threat” from kidnapping for ransom to benefit terrorists.

“We want to make it much more difficult for terrorists to benefit from this sort of financing,” he said.

Lyall Grant said he hopes the Security Council will approve the resolution this month, with support from all 15 members…

Audit finds charity watchdog unfit for duties

The National Audit Office (NAO) has found that the U.K. Charity Commission, the entity responsible for monitoring British nonprofits, is grossly understaffed and is too passive in exposing malfeasance.

The Charity Commission has never done anything to crack down on Interpal and Muslim Aid—two British-based charities that have funded Hamas.  The Charity Commission even went out of its way to discredit the allegations against Muslim Aid.  The NAO’s findings cast the Charity Commission’s defense of such charities in a new and disturbing light.

This is probably one of the biggest stories pertaining to terrorist financing in Britain that has come out in several years.  Scores of Islamic charities have established headquarters in the U.K., and have used favorable reviews by the Charity Commission as part of their fundraising appeals to send money overseas.

This isn’t just a story about regulatory ineptitude:  it reveals a major global avenue for charitable fraud.

From the Daily Mail (h/t to Ultrascan HUMINT) on Dec. 3:

Charity cash could end up in the hands of terrorists: Watchdog ‘failing to tackle abuses’

• Critical report was compiled by the National Audit Office
• Reveals the Charity Commission has just two members of staff to monitor voluntary organisations with just 42 probes launched this year
• Labour MP Margaret Hodge warns commission is not ‘fit for purpose’ and ‘risks undermining public trust’ in charities

By Daniel Martin

3 December 2013

Money given to charity could be diverted to terrorists because a watchdog is not investigating abuses properly, a damning report has warned.

The Charity Commission monitors voluntary organisations over three areas of high risk: fraud, whether they safeguard beneficiaries, and counter-terrorism.

But it now has only two members of staff doing this work and just 42 probes were started last year, compared to 306 a year before the last election, increasing a ‘risk that serious concerns will go undetected’.

In a critical report, the National Audit Office spending watchdog said failings could damage public faith in good causes. The commission needs a ‘radical change of pace and rigour’, it said…

The NAO report also stated:

‘It [the Charity Commission] uses its information poorly to assess risk and often relies solely on trustees’ assurances.

‘Where it does identify concerns in charities, it makes little use of its powers and fails to take tough action in some of the most serious cases.

‘The commission is too passive in pursuing its objectives, letting practical and legal barriers prevent action, rather than considering alternative ways to prevent abuse of charitable status.’

Bin Laden’s old bank signs £100m London deal

Osama Bin Laden used to send money to his operatives through Tadamon Islamic Bank, a sharia-compliant financial institution based in Yemen.  Hassan al-Turabi, the man largely responsible for the imposition of sharia law in the Sudan, also had free access to Tadamon in the 1990s.

Tadamon, now calling itself Tadhamon International Islamic Bank, maintains a “wholly owned subsidiary” investment bank called Tadhamon Capital in Bahrain.  Tadhamon Capital has just reached a £100 million (163 million USD) agreement to build a mixed-use student housing and commercial development on Paul Street in London.

From ArabianBusiness.com:

Bahrain investment firm inks $163m London deal

By Andy Sambidge

Saturday, 30 November 2013

Bahrain-based Sharia compliant investment firm Tadhamon Capital has announced the acquisition of its second Central London development in a deal worth more than £100m ($163m).

It said the Paul Street development was concluded in a joint venture with Apache Capital and McLaren Property following the full letting of its first prime London student development, Paris Gardens.

The Paul Street development will be comprised of three blocks, two of which will contain 456 student accommodation units with a 1,550 sq ft ground floor retail space, with the third block consisting of a stand-alone office building.

Tadhamon said in a statement that construction work is expected to commence in during the first quarter of 2014 with completion targeted by the end of Q3 2015.

It said the investment is expected to generate a minimum average annual net cash yield of 7.3 percent.

Paul Street is located on the northern fringe of the City, within proximity of the fashionable areas of Hoxton and Old Street.

Waleed Abdulla Rashdan, CEO of Tadhamon Capital, said: “Over the past four years we have taken a strategic decision to expand our investments within the UK and have since focused on building our social infrastructure platform.

“To date, we have successfully closed 10 transactions at a total value of £240m… We will continue exploring further opportunities within these sectors as part of our platform as they have proven their resilience to market changes, and continued their marked growth.”

He added “Over the past years we have established a solid real estate investment platform which will be used to replicate our success and experience within the UK to invest over the next 18 months in selected cities within the EU, US and Turkey.”

City: 28 gangs run 59 businesses that fund terror

Birmingham, Britain’s second largest city, has identified 28 criminal gangs that are operating 59 primarily cash-based businesses that are laundering money in part to finance terrorism.

Ever get a funny feeling when you walk into certain shops?  Do you ever find it odd when a big store won’t accept credit cards?  Does the store have signs up forbidding photography?  Do the employees look at you funny when you enter?  Does the business seem to stay open despite a lack of customers, or does it occupy too large a space for the amount of traffic it normally receives?  Do they sell deeply discounted merchandise, such as pirated CDs, DVDs, or dirt cheap cell phones?

Don’t ignore these red flags and your feelings of discomfort.  Don’t buy anything there, and just walk away.

H/t El Grillo.

Birmingham’s crime gangs fund terrorists

23 Oct 2013

City gyms, cafes and restaurants used for recruiting extremists, say police

A top-level police report has revealed crime gangs in Birmingham are funding terrorism.

And the criminal groups now run 59 legitimate businesses in the city, often using them to launder money made from drug dealing, robberies, and even gun-running.

The potential threats facing Birmingham and its residents is laid bare in a detailed report compiled by the Assistant Chief Constable of West Midlands Police, Sharon Rowe.

It was written for Birmingham Community Safety Partnership, involving members of the city council, probation service, police and fire service.

The report, published online, confirms there are currently 28 organised crime gangs (OCGs) operating in the city and highlights the scale of their operations and influence.

But it is believed there are 306 OCGs whose criminality affects Birmingham.

The report states the Birmingham gangs now run 59 legitimate businesses, often using them to launder proceeds from their criminal activities, which include drug dealing, robberies, car key burglaries and even gun-running.

They include pubs, car washes and sandwich shops, which normally deal in cash.

For the first time, the report also reveals some of the groups are believed to be funding terrorism.

It states: “There is evidence that some Birmingham OCGs use the profits from crime to help fund terrorist activities”…