The U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to seize bitcoins from 155 addresses that were allegedly used by al-Qaeda (the group banned in Russia) to fund terrorism. CoinDesk reports.
In the forfeiture petition filed on August 13 in the District Court for the District of Columbia, the FBI, the National Security Investigations Division, and the Internal Revenue Service argue that al-Qaeda carried out an elaborate money-laundering operation through a network of Telegram channels. These channels were used to solicit bitcoin donations to fund terrorism.
The document notes that al-Qaeda and related terrorist groups posed as charitable organizations.
Using third-party analytics software, investigators identified 155 addresses allegedly linked to these groups. Transactions on them have taken place over the past 18 months.
The amount of funds at the addresses listed in the filing was not disclosed.
That al-Qaeda and other terrorist groups are receiving funding in cryptocurrency via the Telegram messenger was already reported last August by the Middle East Media Research Institute (MEMRI).
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