ALABAMA
Federal officials stated that Alaa Mohd Abusaad plead guilty Friday to hiding concealment of terrorism financing, according to authorities.
A criminal complaint stated that Abusaad instructed an FBI undercover employee about how to send money to the mujahedeen—fighters engaged in jihad.
Abusaad told the undercover employee that money “is always needed. You can’t have a war without weapons. You can’t prepare a soldier without equipment.”
Abusaad also advised the undercover employee on how to send money in a manner that would avoid detection by law enforcement, including by using fake names and addresses when conducting electronic money transfers.
Subsequently, Abusaad introduced the undercover employee to a financial facilitator who could route the undercover employee’s money to “brothers that work with aq” (meaning al Qaeda), according to federal officials.
Abusaad is facing up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine along with a life term of supervised release, officials stated.
DOJ NOTED:
Investigation of the case was conducted by the FBI, including FBI offices in Birmingham, Alabama, and Cleveland and Toledo, Ohio.
The prosecution is being handled by Assistant United States Attorneys Henry Cornelius and Manu Balachandran and Trial Attorney Jennifer Levy of the National Security Division’s Counterterrorism Section.