FBI investigation finds Turkey a key channel for funding ISIS cryptocurrencies

Abdallah Bozkurt/Stockholm

The indictment of a US citizen, prosecuted for financing the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria (ISIS), revealed how Turkey became a key conduit for illicit cryptocurrency transactions used to fund operations of the jihadist group in Syria.

Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, a 35-year-old Virginia resident and naturalized U.S. citizen originally from India, transferred more than $188,000 to ISIS. The funds were used to help secure the release of ISIS fighters and their families in Syria, using Turkish intermediaries and cryptocurrencies.

In an affidavit submitted to U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsey R. Vaala on May 4, 2023, FBI Special Agent Gary T. Marosy explained that funds sent to ISIS in Syria often followed this method through intermediary of Turkish brokers. The money was transferred via cryptocurrency, a form of currency that is difficult to trace, to couriers in Türkiye. These couriers then converted the cryptocurrency into cash, which was secretly smuggled into Syria without a trace.

Intercepted communications revealed that Chhipa's contact in Syria advised him not to send money directly to Syria or elsewhere, but rather to route it through Turkey, where ISIS could collect the money safely. security and redirect it to finance its operations in Syria.

Chhipa, an IT professional who has lived in the United States since the age of four after his family emigrated from India, was reported by the FBI in 2019. Law enforcement was alerted when A dozen social media accounts he managed began posting violent jihadist messages. .

Affidavit submitted to U.S. Magistrate Judge Lindsey R. Vaala on May 4, 2023 by FBI Special Agent Gary T. Marosy:

Chhipa_affidavit_FBI

In an article dated March 18, 2019, he wrote: The sword is a must. Jihad is a necessity. Nothing terrifies the enemies of Muslims, nothing terrifies them like power, force and weapons. Jihad is a strong and solid pillar of Sharia law. This noise [religion] can never be established and firmly established without jihad.

The same day, in another article, Chhipa cited Sheikh al-Allamah Humud Ibn Ulqa ash-Shuaybi, a renowned radical Saudi cleric who supported the Afghan Taliban and the September 11, 2001 attacks.

In a telephone conversation on March 16, 2019, Chhipa said he would end up in jail, engage in jihad by going abroad or become a martyr by committing suicide. In June 2019, during communications with a secret social media account operated by the FBI, Chhipa admitted his support for ISIS and expressed his desire to carry out an attack against what he described as infidels and terrorists. hypocrites, hoping to die in the name of Allah.

Chhipa fled the country on August 2, 2019, believing he would be arrested following an FBI search warrant executed at his home. The United States obtained a Blue Notice through INTERPOL, requesting assistance in locating, identifying, or obtaining information about him in a criminal investigation. Chhipa was forced to return to the United States before reaching Egypt, as part of his escape plan through Mexico, Guatemala, Panama and Germany. He was arrested near the Mexico-Guatemala border and deported to the United States by Mexican authorities on August 16, 2019.

The FBI discovered a cache of evidence during the search, which included instructions for making a bomb, PDF copies of the ISIS publication Dabiq, and photos depicting beheadings and armed ISIS fighters .

After returning to the United States without facing charges, Chhipa believed himself out of danger and resumed his activities on behalf of ISIS. He frequently communicated with British ISIS women living in Syria who financed ISIS fighters and helped their family members escape from the Al Hawl camp (also known as Al Hol).

The camp was established in 2016 to house Iraqis and Syrians fleeing areas controlled by ISIS. By March 2019, more than 50,000 women and children had moved into a special section of the camp known as the annex, following the final defeat of ISIS by the US-led coalition. The annex is guarded by Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) fighters, who are reportedly open to bribes to allow ISIS family members to escape the camp.

The annex continues to serve as a bastion of ISIS ideology, operating under strict Islamic sharia law, similar to that of ISIS. The SDF is considered a terrorist organization by Turkey due to its alleged links to the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK), designated as a terrorist group by the US, EU and Turkey.

Starting in November 2019, Chhipa began depositing money into his Apple Federal Credit Union bank account, converting the funds into cryptocurrency through service providers Coinbase and Binance, and sending them to Turkey .

FBI analysis found that more than $18,000 was sent to cryptocurrency wallets associated with ISIS women in Syria, $61,000 was sent to wallets located in Turkey, and more than 60 000 dollars are still missing.

U.S. government memorandum in support of pretrial detention of ISIS suspect Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa:

US_attorney_motion_for _detention_ISIS-suspect

In a communication obtained by the FBI, an ISIS operative advised Chhipa to never send money directly to him, but rather through Turkey. I never sent it directly to myself[]is always sent to [T]“To Türkiye, then secretly sent without any trace,” she wrote, prompting Chhipa to respond by saying I know how that works.

The FBI used several secret accounts to communicate with Chhipa and his contact with ISIS in Syria through so-called FBI Controlled Persons (FBICP), which refers to accounts run by agents infiltrators or confidential human sources. This communication helped decipher the plan Chhipa was carrying out for ISIS.

In late April 2023, the FBI placed Chhipa under close surveillance, which he noticed, prompting him to attempt to flee the country a second time. He received advice from an unidentified person with a German phone number on how to avoid detection. When he withdrew $8,000 in cash from his bank account, the FBI concluded he was planning to flee.

Chhipa was arrested by the FBI on May 4, 2023 on an arrest warrant charging him with providing material support to ISIS, a crime carrying a potential sentence of up to 20 years in prison. prison and possible supervised release for life. He was detained pending trial on May 10, 2023.

At a May 2023 hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Anthony Aminoff revealed that Chhipa had a relationship with Allison Fluke-Ekren, an American ISIS member from Kansas who is currently serving a 20-year sentence. Fluke-Ekren pleaded guilty in 2022 to organizing and leading Khatiba Nusaybah, a battalion where approximately 100 women and girls were trained in the use of automatic weapons, grenades and suicide belts. The two got married through online dating and Chhipa had attempted to adopt Fluke-Ekren's children.

The Chhipas affair shows the extent to which President Recep Tayyip Erdogan's government appears to tolerate ISIS activities in and across Turkey, rather than truly cracking down on the terrorist network. Official figures indicate that only about one in four ISIS detainees are arrested upon arraignment in Turkish courts, creating a revolving door policy for ISIS suspects.

Many arrested ISIS suspects are later released during trials, and very few are actually convicted and serve prison time. The Turkish government is avoiding disclosing how many IS members have been convicted, despite parliamentary inquiries by opposition parties.

For years, the Erdogan government turned a blind eye to the movement of IS fighters, funding and logistical supplies through Turkey. In 2015-2016, the Turkish intelligence agency MIT allegedly engaged the ISIS network in Turkey to carry out a series of violent attacks to promote a political agenda and help the Erdogan government maintain power amid terrorist threats increasing during electoral cycles.