Two brothers from St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana, were arrested in September on federal charges accusing them of helping raise money for Hamas through Snapchat posts, coded messages, and PayPal transfers that prosecutors say moved cash toward Gaza. Abdel Adhami and Omar Adhami were detained pending a detention hearing and had not yet entered pleas as of Thursday, according to federal court records.
The case grew out of a joint investigation by the FBI and the New York Police Department, according to nola.com. Abdel Adhami faces charges of material support to a foreign terrorist organization, wire fraud, and money laundering, while Omar Adhami faces material-support and wire-fraud charges, NBC News reports. Both brothers are facing terrorism charges and are accused of raising money online and funneling it to a Gaza contact named Saleem Alzaq.
From 2021 to November 2025, Abdel Adhami allegedly used several Snapchat accounts to post Hamas propaganda and solicit donations, per the same NBC News account, while also directing followers to a Telegram account that posted pro-Hamas and pro-Palestinian Islamic Jihad messages, videos and images and solicited donations of its own. Court documents describe Alzaq as a Hamas member who posted similar propaganda on social media.
Competing Dollar Figures in the Charging Documents
The exact scale of the alleged scheme is described differently across the available reporting. NBC News reports that a federal indictment alleges Alzaq funneled roughly $1.7 million to Hamas from donors who believed they were providing humanitarian aid to Gaza, while nola.com reports Alzaq was charged with raising a total of nearly $1.75 million for Hamas over several years.
Figures for Abdel Adhami's own transfers also vary by outlet. NBC News reports that between November 4, 2023, and June 2025, he sent almost $35,000 to one PayPal account and $46,600 to another, with that money allegedly funneled to Alzaq. WDSU, however, described court documents as saying Abdel Adhami sent up to $83,000 to the terrorist organization over several years, and nola.com separately reported that the FBI said he sent about $80,000 to people close to Alzaq in Gaza between November 2023 and February 2026, primarily using PayPal.
An Undercover Detective Known Only as “Hussain”
According to nola.com, an undercover NYPD detective working online contacted Alzaq, who then referred the detective to Abdel Adhami. The detective posed as a person named “Hussain,” described as the owner of a cash-only store interested in sending money, and messaged with both Alzaq and Abdel Adhami last November. It remains unclear whether Abdel Adhami ultimately received any payments from the undercover detective, the outlet reported.
Investigators say the brothers and Alzaq relied on code words to disguise their activity, according to the Times of Israel, using terms like “bread” and “bread people” across Snapchat and WhatsApp conversations. The NYPD also played a role in the case.
NYPD Says Its Analysts Built the Case
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department's intelligence analysts uncovered an international finance network and built the case against the Adhami brothers, according to NBC News. Her comments, offered in a statement to the outlet, underscore the department's counterterrorism reach well beyond New York City limits.
Terrorism researcher Seamus Hughes told nola.com there has been a steady increase of Hamas-related arrests in recent weeks across the country, framing the Louisiana case as part of a broader pattern. The Times of Israel separately described the prosecution as the latest in at least seven federal U.S. investigations into alleged Gaza terrorism fundraising over the past year.
Part of a Wider Federal Crackdown
The Adhami case follows other federal actions targeting alleged Hamas financing networks. The Justice Department previously announced the unsealing of a five-count complaint against a San Diego resident on terrorism, sanctions-evasion, wire fraud, money laundering and false-statement charges, according to the U.S. Department of Justice. In a separate matter, the department has said a group chat claiming association with Hamas on an encrypted platform directed supporters to a fundraising website and provided a rotating set of cryptocurrency donation addresses.
Researchers have also flagged newer fundraising tactics tied to Hamas-linked channels. According to GNET Research, Hamas-linked Telegram channels have solicited donations through Telegram's Stars micropayment feature since at least early 2024, with one fundraising post in April 2025 drawing more than 24,000 Stars, a number the organization says can later be redeemed for cash after a minimum threshold and a waiting period.
Neither Abdel Adhami, Omar Adhami, nor Alzaq has publicly responded to the charges, and details on their legal representation and any scheduled plea dates have not been made public as of Thursday.
