The U.S. Department of Justice reported this Thursday (8th) the sentencing of Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa (35) to 30 years in prison for financing terrorism.
According to information, Chhipa sent US$185,000 (R$1 million) in cryptocurrencies to members of the Islamic State (ISIS).
His counterpart was a woman from the terrorist group residing in Syria. The money would be used to finance prison escapes, terrorist attacks, and ISIS fighters, the DoJ said.
U.S. sentences man to 30 years for financing terrorism
The lawsuit points out that Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, a resident of Springfield, Virginia, raised and sent money to the Islamic State for three years, between October 2019 and October 2022.
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In total, Chhipa sent US$185,000 in cryptocurrencies to a woman from the group, located in Syria. In direct conversion, the sum exceeds the value of R$1 million.
As a consequence, the defendant was sentenced to 364 months in prison (30 years).
“This defendant directly funded ISIS in its efforts to commit vicious terrorist atrocities against innocent citizens in the United States and abroad,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “This strict sentence shows that if you finance terrorism, we will prosecute you and put you behind bars for decades.”
Attorney Erik S. Siebert pointed out that those who finance terrorism have the same responsibility as those who carry out the attacks.
“Mohammed Chhipa, consciously and persistently, raised and provided a considerable amount of money to finance the violence of an organization determined to impose its extremist ideology on others. The fact that he did this from a nation that considers individual freedom sacred is inconceivable.”
One of the documents in the lawsuit shows that Chhipa used a cryptocurrency exchange to buy and send these cryptocurrencies, which facilitated the actions of the authorities.
Case proves how government can be flexible with the sector, but punish criminals
Although the U.S. has been more flexible with the cryptocurrency sector since Donald Trump took office, the case involving financing terrorism shows how the government can separate the extremes of this market.
This is because studies show that criminals prefer to use money instead of cryptocurrencies. In other words, most uses are for legitimate purposes and regulators should not punish everyone, but only those with bad intentions, regardless of the means chosen.
In Brazil, the Attorney General’s Office (AGU) is investigating the use of cryptocurrencies by leaders of the INSS fraud scheme.
