NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A Queens man and a New Jersey man were arrested on Wednesday for donating to ISIS through cryptocurrency and other means, according to the Department of Justice.
The person who facilitated the donations testified against the men, as well as a man from Virginia and a man from Canada who were also arrested Wednesday morning.
Abdullah At Taqi, a 23-year-old from East Elmhurst, Queens, and Seema Rahman, a 25-year-old from Edison, New Jersey, were each charged with conspiracy to provide material support to ISIS.
Taqi and Rahman were arraigned in a Brooklyn federal court.
Prosecutors accused the four conspirators of donating about $35,000 total.
The men also allegedly conspired with the anonymous middleman-turned-witness to post a fake donation link that purported to be for charity but in reality was for ISIS.
“This crowdfunding network used cryptocurrency, Bitcoin wallets, GoFundMe, and PayPal to collect and raise blood money to support ISIS, not for needy families as they falsely claimed in their attempt to deceive law enforcement,” stated U.S. Attorney Breon Peace. “I commend our prosecutors and the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force for piercing the veil of secrecy to identify the perpetrators of this scheme, reveal the true evil nature of these virtual money transfers, and bring to justice those who seek to enable acts of violent extremism.”
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