Treasury sanctions France-based "charities" it says funded Hamas
Two purported aid groups and three individuals were designated on 2 October 2026. Treasury says they raised more than $2 million and sent hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency to a Hamas member in Gaza.
On 2 October 2026, the US Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated three individuals and two France-based nonprofit groups under its counter-terrorism program. Treasury says the network raised more than $2 million for Hamas between 2020 and 2026, about $1.5 million of it after the 7 October 2023 attack.
According to Treasury, two France-based individuals, Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid, ran groups called Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux. The groups asked the public for donations for humanitarian aid in Gaza. Treasury says the money was instead sent, including hundreds of thousands of dollars in cryptocurrency, to Saleem al-Zaq, a Gaza-based member of Hamas's military wing, who used money services businesses and crypto wallets to pass it on.
The designations block any property of these persons in the US or held by US persons, and also block entities they own 50% or more of. Treasury also warned that foreign banks that knowingly handle significant transactions for designated persons risk losing access to US correspondent accounts.
Why it matters to AML professionals
Terrorist financing through charities is hard to spot: unlike laundering, the money is often clean at the start and only its destination is the problem.
Red flags in this case
- A charity whose donations are converted to crypto and sent abroad soon after they arrive
- Fundraising accounts promoted by individuals linked to a sanctioned group
- Aid funds routed through money services businesses or personal wallets instead of established relief channels
- A nonprofit's spending that does not match its stated mission or region
Sources
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