NEW YORK (1010 WINS) — A 43-year-old Upper East Side woman was indicted for using cryptocurrency to fund and launder money for a Syrian terrorist group, Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced Tuesday.
After a year-and-a-half-long investigation, the NYPD Intelligence Bureau and Manhattan DA’s Counter Terrorism Program charged Victoria Jacobs for supporting Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, a Syrian paramilitary organization opposed to the Bashar al-Assad regime.
The group is designated a terrorist organization by the U.S. state department.
Between September 2018 and June 2019, Jacobs allegedly sent more than $5,000 to the group’s training wing Mahalma Tactical.
She’s also accused of using Bitcoin to launder more than $10,000 on behalf of Mahalma Tactical and sending a U.S. Army Improvised Munitions Handbook to facilitate bomb making.
“This case marks the first time that terrorism financing is being prosecuted in New York State Court and is one of the rare cases worldwide where cryptocurrency is alleged to have financed terrorism,” said Bragg. “This complex case demonstrates the depth of knowledge and resources this Office has to combat terrorism and extremism in New York and throughout the globe.”
Jacobs was charged in a New York Supreme court for supporting an act of terrorism, money laundering, conspiracy and weapons possession.
Related
Related
Related
