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Steven Emerson,
Executive Director
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January 11, 2018
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Financial
Desperation Leads ISIS to Sell its Own Coins Online
by IPT News • Jan 11, 2018 at
2:51 pm
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Facing financial setbacks, the Islamic State (ISIS) is turning to more
unorthodox methods for raising money: selling its own currency on the web.
A new Meir Amit Intelligence and Information Terrorism Center report cites an ISIS publication from last month
touting the terrorist group's minted coins.
"One of the news sites [on the Internet] published an advertisement
[for] the purchase of every [type] of dinar currency minted by the Islamic
State. The website notes that payment for the coins is via PayPal," an
article in ISIS's Haqq publication said.
During its rise, the terrorist group's "Ministry of Finance"
minted coins and regulated a new currency to be used in the territories
under ISIS control. With the fall of its territorial caliphate, ISIS is
trying to sell the coins as memorabilia and use the proceeds to finance
future operations.
ISIS previously exploited PayPal and eBay to send money to its recruits.
An August Wall Street Journal report outlines how the Islamic State sent money to an
operative based in the United States, relying on phony eBay sales to hide
financial transfers. Through PayPal, ISIS transferred roughly $8,700 to
U.S. citizen and ISIS supporter Mohamed Elshinawy, who was pretending to
sell computer printers. According to an FBI investigation, Elshinawy was meant
to use the money for "operational purposes" – including potential
terrorist attacks – in the United States.
This incident shed light on an international ISIS financial network that relied on
similar tactics to fund operations worldwide.
ISIS ran a well-functioning bureaucracy with clearly defined roles
including rigorous financial management. It maintained a
sophisticated payroll system for its fighters and generated money from
state-like functions like taxation.
Terrorists often diversify their funding sources to support their
nefarious activities, including various forms of criminal operations. For
years, ISIS has relied on counterfeiting and other criminal activity to
fund operations.
Now, facing even more financial pressure, ISIS is showing greater signs
of desperation by resorting to creating and selling its own money.
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