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A Russian national living in California has pleaded guilty to funneling tens of 1000’s of {dollars} to a “jihad” fundraiser supporting a recognized terror group.
The Justice Department introduced that Murat Kurashev, 36, a Russian national who resided in Sacramento, pleaded guilty on Monday to making an attempt to present materials help to a chosen overseas terrorist group. The FBI arrested Kurashev after a federal grand jury handed down the single-count indictment on Feb. 18, 2021.
According to courtroom paperwork, Kurashev tried to present monetary help to Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), which is designated by the Secretary of State as a overseas terrorist group that engages in terrorism in Syria.
Between July 2020 and February 2021, Kurashev was accused of utilizing cash switch providers to ship roughly $13,000 to two recognized couriers for an HTS fundraiser. Federal prosecutors say information obtained from the cash switch providers documented a number of transactions from Kurashev to the couriers in Turkey, normally in increments of $1000.
Syrian fighters affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group load a pickup-mounted rocket launcher earlier than firing at Syrian authorities forces’ positions in the northwest of Aleppo province on Jan. 1, 2024. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP through Getty Images)
The couriers retrieved the funds typically inside 24 hours of switch, prosecutors mentioned. Surveillance footage from cash switch companies captured Kurashev throughout a number of the transactions, in accordance to the DOJ. Prosecutors mentioned social media and encrypted cellular messaging discussions between Kurashev and the fundraiser made clear that Kurashev was totally conscious of the fundraiser’s violent extremist ideology and participation and work on behalf of HTS.
Kurashev said that he wished he may be part of the struggle in Syria as a mujahideen and regretted that he may solely present monetary help. As their conversations confirmed, Kurashev and the fundraiser believed that offering cash in help of the HTS fighters “was tantamount to being engaged in violent jihad,” U.S. Attorney Phillip A. Talbert’s workplace mentioned.
A Syrian fighter affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group operates the distant for a pickup-mounted rocket launcher firing at Syrian authorities forces’ positions in the northwest of Aleppo province on Jan. 1, 2024. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP through Getty Images)
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According to courtroom paperwork, Kurashev adopted the fundraiser’s on-line presence and numerous social media accounts, which included solicitations for cash to buy navy gear, boots, clothes, firearms, and, in one case, a bike. Forensic evaluation of Kurashev’s Apple iCloud account revealed it to be replete with violent extremist content material, together with a video depicting HTS fighters, in accordance to the Justice Department.
Kurashev is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Kimberly J. Mueller on March 18, 2024. He faces a most statutory penalty of 20 years in jail and a $250,000 wonderful.
Syrian fighters affiliated with the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group examine a pickup-mounted rocket launcher earlier than firing at Syrian authorities forces’ positions in the northwest of Aleppo province on Jan. 1, 2024. (OMAR HAJ KADOUR/AFP through Getty Images)
According to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, an American suppose tank in Washington, D.C., Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, HTS or the “Organization for the Liberation of the Levant,” traces its beginnings to the outset of the Syrian civil struggle and has remained a harmful opposition power all through the period of the battle.
In May 2018, HTS was added to the State Department’s current designation of its predecessor, the al-Qaeda affiliate Jabhat al-Nusra, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization. The suppose tank says that HTS retains a Salafi-jihadist ideology regardless of a public cut up from al-Qaeda in 2017.
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