US Charges Palestinian with Raising Funds for Hamas and "Gaza Now" Platform

SadaNews - The U.S. Department of Justice announced the filing of 5 criminal charges against "R.S." (38 years old), a resident of San Diego, California, for conspiracy to provide material support to Hamas, evading U.S. sanctions, wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements to authorities.

According to the indictment revealed in the federal court for the Southern District of New York, U.S. authorities accuse "R.S." of raising funds through online platforms and campaigns described as humanitarian to support the residents of the Gaza Strip, while authorities claim that a portion of this money was transferred to Hamas and another portion was used for personal purposes.

The Department of Justice stated that the accused used his social media accounts and a charity organization named "Ikram - the Arab Charity Foundation" to collect donations from individuals inside and outside the United States.

Authorities allege that he coordinated with the "Gaza Now" platform and other individuals to operate fundraising campaigns and transfer money to the group.

According to case documents, the accused raised approximately $600,000 between December 2023 and February 2024, and authorities say he transferred about $116,000 to a Hamas member, while attempting to convert about $382,000 into digital currencies to send them to the group via the "Gaza Now" network.

The U.S. Treasury Department also noted that it imposed sanctions in March 2024 on the "Gaza Now" platform and two individuals described by authorities as accomplices of the accused, under Executive Order 13224 concerning combating terrorism financing.

"R.S." was arrested in San Diego on Tuesday and appeared before a federal judge in the Southern District of California.

He currently faces a sentence of up to 20 years in prison for each of the charges of conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign "terrorist" organization, violating the International Economic Emergency Powers Act, wire fraud, and money laundering, in addition to a penalty of up to five years for making false statements, according to the report.

The U.S. Department of Justice confirmed that the charges in the indictment are merely allegations, and the accused is presumed innocent until proven guilty in court.