Man sentenced to decades in prison for crypto-terror scheme

One Virginia man has been sentenced for his role in a crypto-terror financing scheme in which he raised more than $185,000 to support the Islamic State (ISIS).

Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, 35, of Springfield, Virginia, collected and sent money to members in Syria to “benefit ISIS in various ways,” court records and evidence presented at trial reveal.

Chhipa used online methods to collect money to send to female supporters of ISIS to escape al-Hol prison camps in Syria and to help support ISIS fighters. He used various social media accounts to help raise these funds, the Department of Justice (DoJ) said.

During the scheme, Chhipa would receive money via transfer and even travel “hundreds of miles” to collect funds in person.

These “donations” were then converted into cryptocurrency and sent to Turkey, where it was discreetly transmitted to ISIS members in Syria.

However, Chhipa didn’t act alone, as it’s said that his co-conspirator was an ISIS member based in Syria whose main goal was to raise money for prison escapes, terrorist attacks, and ISIS fighters.

The scheme lasted at least three years, from October 2019 to October 2022. Chhipa raised roughly $185,000 during this time.

Chhipa has been sentenced to over 30 years in prison (364 months) for his sustained effort to provide financial support to ISIS.

US Attorney General Pamela Bondi said that Chhipa directly finances ISIS in an attempt to “commit vile terrorist atrocities against innocent citizens in America and abroad.”

US Attorney Erik S. Siebert for the Eastern District of Virginia said that Chhipa “knowing and persistently” raised money to fund a violent organization “bent on forcing their extremist ideology on others.”