The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) sanctioned 3 people and 2 charities, accusing them of moving $2 million to Hamas through crypto and sham charities.
The charities are Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux. The three individuals are reportedly:
- Saleem al-Zaq (a Hamas military wing member)
- Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid (France-based fundraisers)
The Justice Department (DOJ) also unsealed charges against al-Zaq and announced 6 arrests.
Charity Appeals in France, Crypto Transfers to Gaza
Treasury described Saleem al-Zaq as a Gaza-based battalion deputy in Hamas’s armed wing. His network used money services businesses and crypto wallets to move funds to the Al-Qassam Brigades, it said.
Barika and Oualid run the two charities, which claimed to raise aid for civilians in Gaza. Treasury says they passed the money to al-Zaq, who sent it to Hamas.
Treasury did not say how much of the total was moved as crypto. It said Barika and Oualid sent al-Zaq hundreds of thousands of dollars in digital assets. OFAC’s entries list no wallet addresses.
The release also described the scheme in broader terms.
“These designations expose a sophisticated, multi‑year financing architecture that moved more than $2 million to Hamas through deceptive charitable fronts and cryptocurrency channels, demonstrating the organization’s persistent ability to adapt its fundraising mechanisms to evade detection,” the release said.
OFAC previously sanctioned Gaza-based crypto exchange Buy Cash in October 2023.
How the Alleged Funding Network Worked
According to US prosecutors and Treasury, the alleged scheme worked roughly like this:
- Donations were collected in France. Barika and Oualid allegedly raised money through charities that presented themselves as supporting civilians in Gaza.
- The money was pooled through traditional banking. Chainalysis said some of the funds were collected in a French bank account before being moved further.
- Al-Zaq allegedly asked for crypto. Prosecutors say he initially received money through Western Union. In December 2021, he allegedly asked a France-based partner to send Bitcoin or other digital currency instead.
- The goal was allegedly to make transfers harder to trace. According to the indictment, al-Zaq believed crypto could help hide where the money came from and where it was going.
- Funds were converted into crypto and sent onward. Treasury says Barika and Oualid transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in digital assets to al-Zaq.
- The network allegedly changed exchanges when questioned. When one crypto platform asked about the source of funds in May 2023, the partner allegedly moved to another exchange.
- Blockchain investigators later traced connections. Chainalysis identified a counterparty linked to al-Zaq’s exchange deposit address. That counterparty also sent funds to exchange addresses that had received money from Hamas-linked wallets previously targeted by Israeli seizure orders.
Prosecutors say al-Zaq and his associates raised about $1.75 million through December 2025, including at least $626,000 from US donors. Treasury says the wider financing network moved more than $2 million to Hamas.
