The US Treasury Department has described one Kenyan, Mr Waleed Ahmed Zein as “a dangerous terrorist for establishing an intricate financial global network to finance ISIS.
According to the US U.S. department of the treasury, between 2017 and early 2018, Waleed Ahmed Zein moved over $150,000 (Ksh 15million) through his complex network by deposited large sums of money into a personal account, claiming that the money came from a vehicle and spare auto parts company owned by a family member.
Zein also used an associate to conduct similar transactions including receiving money from around the world, primarily via hawala systems. Funds were then sent to ISIS fighters in Syria, Libya, and Central Africa. Zein and his associates received instructions, money, and account information from an intermediary in an attempt to evade police surveillance. Zein was ultimately arrested by Kenyan security services in July 2018.
Mr Zein was arrested by Kenyan police in July on terrorism financing charges along with an associate, Ms Halima Adan Ali.
The two were arraigned in Milimani Chief Magistrate’s Court, where Mr Zein was charged with 10 counts of facilitating acts of terrorism.
“This administration is committed to targeting ISIS facilitators and their underground networks wherever they operate, in an effort to deny resources they need to carry out attacks.” the Us department wrote.
Zein has served as an important ISIS financial facilitator in East Africa in recent years. He established an intricate ISIS financial facilitation network spanning Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Eastern Africa.
As a result of his actions, all property and interests in property of Zein that is in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons must be blocked and reported to OFAC. OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all dealings by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked or designated persons.
The department says that the plan is a concerted effort to expose and disrupt ISIS-related financing activity around the globe, and follows numerous other U.S. government actions to target ISIS branches and networks in Somalia, West Africa, Tunisia, Egypt, Bangladesh, and the Philippines.