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posted by Fnord666 on Friday December 15 2017, @09:09PM   Printer-friendly
from the apparently-it-wasn't-clean-enough dept.

US woman used bitcoin to move cash to Islamic State, police say

A New York woman has been accused of laundering bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and wiring the money to help the so-called Islamic State. Zoobia Shahnaz, 27, was charged with bank fraud, conspiracy to commit money laundering and money laundering and is being held without bail.

Ms Shahnaz was born in Pakistan and worked as a lab technician in the US. Prosecutors say she took out fraudulent loans of $85,000 (£63,000) in order to buy the bitcoin online.

From the DoJ press release:

"Syria is a perilous and violent war-torn country, but the subject in this investigation was allegedly so determined to assist ISIS that she planned a covert, illegal entry into Syria," stated FBI Assistant Director-in-Charge Sweeney. "On top of which, she allegedly tried to launder virtual currency to bolster terrorists' dwindling financial support. The FBI New York Joint Terrorism Task Force kept this woman from her dangerous and potentially deadly goal. We will do all we can to stop the next person hoping to do the same. We want to thank our law enforcement partners Suffolk County Police Department, with whom we worked this case side-by-side."


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  • (Score: 5, Informative) by NotSanguine on Saturday December 16 2017, @12:01AM (1 child)

    by NotSanguine (285) <NotSanguineNO@SPAMSoylentNews.Org> on Saturday December 16 2017, @12:01AM (#610557) Homepage Journal

    I confirmed that your quote from Business Insider [businessinsider.com] was accurate:

    The FBI has ramped up its use of sting operations in terrorism cases, dispatching undercover agents to pose as jihadists and ensnare Americans suspected of backing ISIS, aka the Islamic State, Daesh, or ISIL.

    On Thursday, roughly 67% of prosecutions involving suspected ISIS supporters include evidence from undercover operations, according to The New York Times.

            In many cases, agents will seek out people who have somehow demonstrated radical views, and then coax them into plotting an act of terrorism — often providing weapons and money. Before the suspects can carry out their plans, though, they're arrested.

    Can't we at least get a whole week's data on this? If it was 67% of Thursday's investigations, that's one thing. What about Wedneday? Or even last weekend?

    Okay, The New York Times [nytimes.com] (which is what BI was paraphrasing) says:

    Only about 30 percent of the first few dozen prosecutions through late 2014 appear to have relied on evidence gathered through undercover operations. That number climbed to about 45 percent by early last year, with a string of undercover prosecutions in New York, Minnesota and Illinois. And since February 2015, about 40 of 60 Islamic State prosecutions, or 67 percent, have been based on undercover operations.

    That makes a bit more sense. Perhaps our editors could offer some help to Business Insider. It seems like they could use it.

    --
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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 16 2017, @07:02PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Saturday December 16 2017, @07:02PM (#610762)

    Before the suspects can carry out their plans, though, they're arrested.

    That shows more competence than I've come to expect from out anti-terrorist activities.