The U.S. Justice Department, in coordination with the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Columbia, has recently unveiled a civil forfeiture action targeting approximately $2 million in digital currency. The assets in question are connected to Buy Cash Money and Money Transfer Company, which is based in Gaza and has been implicated in funding Hamas, an organization designated as a foreign terrorist group (FTO). According to a release from the Justice Department, BuyCash and one of its owners, Ahmed M. M. Alaqad, have participated in providing financial support to Hamas and its operations.
In a statement obtained by the Justice Department, U.S. Attorney Jeanine Ferris Pirro stressed the importance of such actions, saying, "The forfeiture actions executed today is an example of how diligently our office works to prevent any actions from taking place that support foreign terrorist organizations." Meanwhile, Attorney General Pamela Bondi emphasized the role of digital currency platforms in terrorist funding, noting that “By seizing millions in cryptocurrency, the Justice Department is aggressively dismantling the financial infrastructure of terrorism and refusing to allow our digital currency platforms to become safe havens for terrorist financing.” As per the complaint, various users globally used BuyCash to obscure their financial support for terrorist groups, including through accounts at Binance and unhosted wallets containing USDT (Tether).
FBI Director Kash Patel underscored the criticality of halting monetary flows to organizations like Hamas, which fuel their lethal activities. “Our message is that terrorists cannot hide behind digital currency to bankroll their operations. The FBI and our partners will continue our efforts to cut off the flow of money and - most importantly - stop the violence committed by Hamas and their affiliates,” Patel said in a statement obtained by the Justice Department's press release. According to the same source, since 2017, BuyCash and Alaqad have been involved in supporting not just Hamas, but also other terrorist entities such as ISIS and Al-Qaida affiliates, with the latter using the platform for procurement of online infrastructure.
Notably, the complaint details a scheme where BuyCash was used for not only funding of various militant causes but also for direct fiat currency transfers to parties affiliated with Hamas. Before and after the October 2023 attacks, BuyCash was implicated in receiving at least $4 million earmarked for Hamas. This latest government action has succeeded in seizing funds connected to BuyCash and removing approximately $2 million dollars from the terrorist funding streams, as reported by the Justice Department.
The investigation was led by the FBI Washington D.C. Field Office, with acknowledgments given to Tether for assisting in the transfer of the seized assets. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rajbir S. Datta and Thomas N. Saunders with additional support from various specialists and the Justice Department's Office of International Affairs. It should be noted that the civil forfeiture complaint is currently a set of allegations, with the government bearing the burden to prove forfeitability in the civil forfeiture proceedings.
