WhatsApp Chat Used To Move Hundreds Of Millions Of Euros For Crime And Extremism

According to the BBC, a 532-member WhatsApp group chat called "Traders of Greater Europe" was used to arrange cash transfers across borders, moving hundreds of millions of euros without a paper trail and helping fund organised crime and extremism. The European Broadcasting Union investigative network said one transfer from Brussels went to Islamic State militants in Syria, while other evidence pointed to similar cash systems being used for people smuggling and drug trafficking. The group chat contained more than 82,000 messages sent between late February and December 2022 and was first uncovered by Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra. Belgian police found evidence that the defendants had been sending money to IS to help the wives of militants escape detention camps in Syria, and when they arrested Abu Adam, the head of the Brussels network, they found the chat on his phone. The cache also included 6,000 photos of €5 notes and 6,000 photos of identity cards, which Guerra said suggested at least 12,000 transactions. The investigation said the hawala system, which allows money to be moved through trusted brokers without an electronic record, was used for transfers over €5,000 and often much larger. It said hawala is illegal in many countries, including most of the EU, but legal in the UK if brokers are registered with HMRC. Austrian police and Europol also recently dismantled another people-smuggling ring financed through hawala, which officials said had transported about 100,000 people into Europe over 18 months.