Cash Flow to Hamas Is More Restricted, Deeper Underground

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http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/02/18/AR2006021801258.html

Cash Flow to Hamas Is More Restricted, Deeper Underground

By Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, February 19, 2006; Page A23

CHICAGO, Feb. 18 -- Hamas leaders who took charge of the Palestinian parliament Saturday are searching for cash, well aware they can expect no financial support from the U.S. government. They also know that aggressive detective work by federal investigators has clipped the pipeline that once carried millions in private donations collected in the United States.

Before the Bush administration intensified its crackdown on terrorist financing after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, mosques and Muslim charities openly raised money for the Islamic Resistance Movement, also known as Hamas, that mixes Palestinian community work with anti-Israeli suicide attacks. After Hamas was outlawed, investigators say, one Texas charity funneled $12.4 million overseas to Hamas.

But the indictment of alleged Hamas money men in Chicago and Dallas, combined with the FBI questioning of private contributors, has chilled donors, slowed collections and forced fundraising underground, according to U.S. authorities, terrorism financing experts and members of Chicago Muslim organizations.

Specialists who track the money say Hamas fundraisers are adapting by using hard-to-trace methods for moving cash overseas, including stored-value cards, Internet bank accounts and old-fashioned couriers. Money is also sometimes wired to European and Middle Eastern countries where U.S. authorities say they often get little help in following the trail.
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