The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) seized more than $ 200,000 in cryptocurrency from several portfolios and exchange accounts linked to the Palestinian militant group Hamas, according to an announcement on Thursday.
According to the FBI, more than 1.5 million dollars in crypto – largely in the form of donations from supporters of Hamas around the world – have crossed the seized portfolios and exchange accounts since last October. The addresses of the portfolio would have been promoted in a group cat which claiming to be associated with Hamas, a terrorist organization designated by the United States and the European Union, and the donations were then bleached by a series of exchanges and cryptographic transactions.
“These convulsions show that this office will seek loud and down for every penny of money that will finance Hamas, wherever it is found, and in whatever money,” said American lawyer Edward R. Martin Jr. of the Columbia district in a statement. “Hamas is responsible for the death of many American and Israeli nationals, and we will stop nothing to stop their campaign of terror and murder.”
According to the FBI publication, around $ 90,000 in crypto, and $ 112,000 were taken from three exchange accounts, according to the FBI release, and the accounts were recorded with Palestinian people living in Turkey and elsewhere “.
The US Treasury Department and other foreign governments previously sanctioned the financial networks linked to Hamas and the facilitators of cryptographic transfers, have seized cryptographic accounts linked to Hamas. In April 2023, the National Office of the Israeli Ministry of Defense for financing against terrorism (NBCTF) seized nearly 200 cryptocurrency accounts linked to the exchange of Palestinian currencies. According to a report by the Blockchain Analysis Society, TRM Labs, the NBCTF has seized “tens of millions” in crypto from Hamas in recent years.
According to the US Treasury, Hamas has used cryptocurrency to move part of its money for at least 2020, in order to mitigate the risk of physically in cash and escape financial surveillance.
