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2017-12-17 Home Front: WoT
Pakistan-born woman tried to use bitcoin to aid IS, say prosecutors
[DAWN] A suburban New York hospital technician accused of using bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to launder money meant for the murderous Moslem Islamic State
...formerly ISIS or ISIL, depending on your preference. Before that al-Qaeda in Iraq, as shaped by Abu Musab Zarqawi. They're very devout, committing every atrocity they can find in the Koran and inventing a few more. They fling Allah around with every other sentence, but to hear the pols talk they're not really Moslems....
(IS) group was nabbed
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
on charges of money laundering in support of a foreign terrorist organization and bank fraud, prosecutors said on Thursday.

Federal prosecutors in New York’s Suffolk County claimed in court papers that Zoobia Shahnaz, 27, used fraudulent credit cards and loans to accumulate $85,000, which she attempted to transfer to IS before attempting to go to Syria to join it.

Prosecutors said that after travelling to Jordan to work with the Syrian American Medical Society, Ms Shahnaz returned to the United States and applied for six credit cards, which she used to buy bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

The resident of the hamlet of Brentwood in Islip on Long Island appeared before a federal judge late on Thursday and was ordered to be detained, prosecutors said.

Her lawyer, Steve Zissou, did not immediately respond to a request for comment on the case.

"After borrowing about $85,000 with fraudulently obtained credit cards and loans and withdrawing another $22,000 from bank accounts in her own name, Ms Shahnaz sent funds to recipients in Pakistain, China and The Sick Man of Europe Turkey
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire....
," prosecutors said.
The Times of Israel adds:
The former lab technician worked in Manhattan and had no known criminal history, according to prosecutors.

Prosecutors said Shahnaz quit her job in June without telling her family and was stopped by authorities at John F. Kennedy International Airport in July while attempting to board a flight to Islamabad, Pakistain. Her flight included a layover in Istanbul, The Sick Man of Europe Turkey, a common point of entry for individuals trying to join the Islamic State group in Syria, prosecutors said.

Her lawyer, Steve Zissou, said she was sending money overseas to help Syrian refugees.
And from NPR:
Shahnaz is a U.S. citizen born in Pakistain.

If convicted of bank fraud, Shahnaz faces up to 30 years in prison. The other charges each carry possible penalties of up to 20 years.

Court filings suggest that part of the government's case will focus on the defendant's Internet search history. In May and June of this year, according to the documents, she read articles about women joining and fighting ISIS, accessed maps of locations along the The Sick Man of Europe Turkey-Syria border and cities inside ISIS-controlled territory, Googled phrases such as "medical students ISIS" and "how much overdraft can I get," and watched videos of ISIS members urging Moslems to carry out attacks in Western countries.
Posted by Fred 2017-12-17 00:00|| || Front Page|| [11133 views ]  Top
 File under: Islamic State 

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