A jury in Manhattan, The United States on Thursday found a woman guilty on charges that she used cryptocurrency to send to several terror groups operating in war-torn Syria.
Last year, 44-year-old Victoria Jacobs was charged by the Manhattan district attorney’s office of having disbursed over $5000 to a Syrian armed group, Malhama Tactical. Malhama Tactical is a private military contractor, often likened to disgraced US private military firm, Blackwater.
The group has in the past fought alongside Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, another Syrian rebel group that is in the terror list of the State Department.
Jacob’s case kicked off Jan 16 this year. It lasted 2 weeks. At the end of the trial, the jury found the woman guilty of three felony charges: Criminal possession of a weapon, supporting terrorist acts, and money laundering.
If convicted, the woman could spend up to 25 years behind bars.
Syria fase first successful conviction of a terror-funding case in New York
The victorious district attorney, Alvin L Bragg, said that this is the first time that a case involving funding a terrorist group has been successfully prosecuted in the New York’s Supreme Court.
In a statement, the district attorney stated that the authorities will not allow Manhattan to become a base for terror activities either in the US, or abroad.
According to the charges, the accused laundered more than $10,600 for the Syrian terror network. She would receive money from the group’s fans around the world, then transfer the funds to Bitcoin wallets belonging to the Syrian fighters.
Her lawyer, Michale Fineman, had desperately tried to convince the jurors not to find his client guilty. Pleading her case, the lawyer noted that terrorism is a matter of perspective, mentioning the adage that, “One man’s terrorist is another man’s freedom fighter.”
His pleas, however, were not heard by the jurors, who went ahead to find Jacobs guilty of funding terrorism.
This conviction comes as the debate between supporters of cryptocurrencies, who vehemently argue that digital coins are an alternative to the heavily regulated financial sector, and skeptics who believe that Bitcoin and other cryptos are a loophole for people engaging in terrorism and other criminal enterprises.
