Terrorist Finance (merged thread)

[davidbfpo]

Professor Peter Neumann, Kings College London ICSR, has a scathing review of CT financing activity in Foreign Affairs 'Don't Follow the Money: The Problem With the War on Terrorist Financing'

Here is one passage:

More than a decade and a half into the war on terrorist funding, policymakers must recognize the drawbacks of their current approach. Financial tools cannot stop lone attackers from driving cars into crowds, nor can they do much when groups such as ISIS hold territory and earn most of their income from within it. Policymakers need to acknowledge that the war on terrorist financing, as it has been conducted since 2001, has often been costly and counterproductive, harming innocent people and companies without significantly constraining terrorist groups’ ability to operate. Unless governments find ways to revolutionize how they share information with the financial sector, most of the current procedures for identifying suspicious transactions will continue to be little more than costly box-ticking exercises.

Link:https://www.foreignaffairs.com/articles/2017-06-13/dont-follow-money?

Quite a few sources cited appear here already.

[davidbfpo]

Encountered a reference to this monograph (82 pgs) this week; it claims to be intelligence-based, using interviews rather than open sources and is not an academic study. The editor, Aimen Deen, is a former AQ jihadist and a short BBC profile in 2015 helps:http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-31700894

The author(s) explain:

We have divided the study into three themes: theology, history and methodology. Since Jihadists such as al-Qaeda, the Taliban and their supporters consider fundraising for Jihad to be an act of worship just like Jihad itself, then comprehending the theological basis of Jihadist fundraising will add clarity and depth to the understanding of the concept. Historical background will illuminate the path that Jihadist finance took to evolve throughout the years. And the methodology of Jihad fundraising and then the movement of funds across borders will shed light on ingeniously simple methods adopted by Jihadist fundraisers to avoid detection by authorities worldwide.

Link:http://www.fived.org/images/files/Holy%20Money.pdf

I asked a SME for an opinion on its value:

Yes, it very much is. Much of the reporting on this subject has been tactical and not very good tactical at that

[davidbfpo]

The link below is to a 2002 House of Commons report on Northern Ireland 'The continuing threat from paramilitary organisations' and the section on financing, even if dated it has value and note was after the 1997 Good Friday Agreement and an end to hostilities.
Link:https://publications.parliament.uk/p.../978/97806.htm

[davidbfpo]

A report from the global financial crime group FATF and their explanation:

Recruiting members and supporters is crucial to a terrorist organisation's survival. Each terrorist organisation has different recruitment techniques, depending on whether it is a large or small organisation, or a dispersed network of individuals. Using input collected from authorities within the FATF Global Network, this report increases understanding of terrorist organisations’ funding needs to recruit members and supporters. In some cases, these funding needs are minimal. This report identifies the most common methods of recruitment used by terrorist organisations and terrorist cells, and the costs associated with these different methods and techniques of terrorist recruitment:

• Personal needs of the recruiter and the maintenance of basic infrastructure for the recruitment / facilitation network
• Production and dissemination of recruitment materials
• Payment for goods and services to facilitate the new recruits' early participation in the terrorist organization
• Financial incentives provided directly to recruits or for the hiring of mercenaries or civil experts

This report sheds a light on how terrorist organisations fund the recruitment of new members and supporters, from fast food restaurant ‘headquarters’ to financial incentives for new recruits, and will help authorities detect and disrupt these recruitment activities.

Link:http://www.fatf-gafi.org/publication...-purposes.html

[davidbfpo]

A speech following up on Professor Neumanns published views. Here are two selected passages:

To be more specific, I am convinced that, when it comes to countering terrorist finance, there has been an excessive, an exaggerated, an over the top focus on the formal financial sector.
In fact, the single most successful blow to ISIS’s finances was something that had little to do with what people typically associate with countering terrorist finance. It was an American military air strike against a cash depot of ISIS in Iraq. In a single day in January 2016, it destroyed an estimated 50 million dollars — nearly the same amount that had been frozen and confiscated in 15 years of countering terrorist finance through the international financial system.

Link:http://icsr.info/2018/04/beyond-bank...-summit-paris/

[AdamG]

A young New York woman pleaded guilty Monday to supporting the Islamic terror group ISIS with a scam involving bank fraud, bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
Zoobia Shahnaz, 27, of Brentwood, Long Island, admitted to wiring more than $150,000 to individuals and shell entities that were fronts for ISIS in Pakistan, China and Turkey in 2017.
Shahnaz engaged in a scheme to scam Chase Bank, TD Bank, American Express and Discover by fraudulently obtaining six credit cards, according to another court filing. She then bought more than $62,703 in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, and converted the currencies to cash.

https://www.cnbc.com/2018/11/26/new-...-for-isis.html

[davidbfpo]

Discovered today via a "lurker" a November 2017 submission to the Senate Judiciary Committee by an ex-US financial crimes investigator, which has some stunning quotes and this response from a contact immersed in this area:

This should be compulsory reading for everyone engaged in law enforcement!

Link:https://www.judiciary.senate.gov/imo...0Testimony.pdf
It is seventeen pgs. long and is an easy read.