The US has blacklisted two Kenyans alleged to be key ISIS financial facilitators based out of Iraq who has used hawala and money service businesses to circumvent the formal banking sector and move terror funds for ISIS across Europe, Africa and the Middle East.
Halima Adan, who is accused of recruiting and funding terrorist activities in Kenya, denied any involvement or connection with the terrorist group.
The US Treasury says Halima played an integral role in an ISIS financial facilitation network spanning Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Eastern Africa. She worked with Treasury-designated Waleed Ahmaed Zein to conduct transactions at the behest of Waleed’s Syria-based family member in support of ISIS fighters.
Between 2017 and early 2018, Halima received large sums of money from around the world, mostly through hawala systems, that she would forward to ISIS fighters in Syria, Libya, and central Africa. She was also used as a conduit to pass instructions, money, and accounts to Waleed. Their intricate network moved over $150,000 on behalf of ISIS.
Also designated are six members of the Rawi Network, who were described as key money men for the Islamic State. The US military and its allies have targeted Rawi personnel in Iraq and Syria. And intelligence from these raids helped inform Treasury’s latest designations.
How does hawala work?
Let’s say Mary who lives in Mombasa needs to send Ksh200 to John, who lives in Nairobi. She will approach a hawaladar, Eric, and give him the amount of money she wants John to receive, including the details of the transaction—the name of the recipient(John), city (Nairobi), and a secret password. Eric(mombasa) takes the money and contacts a hawala dealer in the recipient’s city (Nairobi), Tom, and asks him to give John $200, on the condition that John correctly states the secret password( will be sent either through email or any other trusted channel).
Tom transfers the money to John from his own account, minus commission and Eric(Mombasa) will owe Tom(Nairobi) $200. The transaction initiated by Mary and concluded by John’s receipt of the funds takes only one to two days or, in some instances, just a few hours. No money is moved and no IOUs are signed and exchanged by Eric and Tom, as the hawala system is backed only by trust, honour, family connections or regional relationships.
And that is how money moves from Kenya to ISIS on the Iraq region without being detected.