WASHINGTON — The Treasury Department on Tuesday imposed sanctions on two cybersecurity experts in Egypt and a financial facilitator in Turkey it said were providing support for the Islamic State.
According to a Treasury news release, Egyptian national Mu’min Al-Mawji Mahmud Salim created a platform called the Electronic Horizons Foundation, which “provides cybersecurity guidance and training to ISIS supporters seeking to evade law enforcement scrutiny of their online activities.” Al-Mawji allegedly provided technical support to ISIS leaders and shared cryptocurrency expertise with the group’s supporters.
Also hit with terrorism sanctions was his partner, Sarah Jamal Muhammad Al-Sayyid, who Treasury said recruited other ISIS members to join the Electronic Horizons Foundation and procured web servers to host ISIS platforms on the foundation's behalf.
Turkey-based Faruk Guzel was hit with sanctions for his involvement in transferring funds to ISIS-affiliated individuals in Syria in mid-2020.
“Today’s actions disrupt ISIS’ ability to move funds, including through the use of cryptocurrency, and leverage its online presence to recruit and promote its terrorist ideology,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury for Terrorism and Financial Intelligence Brian E. Nelson.
“Together with our international partners in the Counter ISIS Finance Group, the United States is committed to combating ISIS’ evolving financial methods to deny ISIS access to the global financial system,” Nelson said in a statement.
Treasury said the designations coincide with a meeting of the 80-member Counter ISIS Finance Group to discuss disrupting ISIS financing networks worldwide.
