Following his conviction for providing “material support” to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) through a crypto financial scheme, a man from Virginia risked serving decades in jail, according to an announcement made by the United States government on Monday.
A jury in Virginia found Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, 35, guilty of charges stemming from allegations that he provided support in a variety of different forms to the foreign terrorist organization Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, or more commonly known as ISIS.
The verdict was announced in a press release. Chhipa received his conviction on Friday. A judge from the federal court system is scheduled to hand down his sentence on May 5th.
Originally from India, Chhipa eventually became a citizen of the United States of America.
The warrant that led to his arrest was signed by United States District Judge Lindsey R. Vaala of the Eastern District of Virginia, according to the documents that were filed in the court. He was taken into custody in May of the previous year.
During the course of the conspiracy, it was alleged that he sent more than $185,000 worth of cryptocurrencies to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS).
His conviction was based on one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization, as well as four charges of providing or attempting to provide material assistance or resources to a “designated foreign terrorist organization.”
He was found guilty on all of these counts. The maximum sentence that can be imposed on Chhipa for each count is twenty years in prison.
The case was investigated by individuals from a variety of departments within the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
According to the Justice Department, his principal co-conspirator was an ISIS member who was born in the United Kingdom and currently resides in Syria. This individual was involved in the process of raising cash for attacks on terrorist organizations, jail escapes, and other ISIS fighters.
Using court records and evidence that was presented during the trial, the jury came to the conclusion that Chhipa had, beginning at least in October 2019 and continuing through October 2022, gathered and transferred funds to female members of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) in Syria for the purpose of facilitating the escape of female ISIS members from prison camps and providing support to its terrorists.
According to the allegations, he would gather money online through a variety of social media accounts, receive electronic payments, and simultaneously travel hundreds of miles to collect the money by hand.
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After that, according to the Department of Justice, Chhipa would convert the money into cryptocurrency and deliver it to other people in Turkey, where it would be transported to members of ISIS in Syria.
Assad’s dictatorship was overthrown after fifty years of rule in that country, which just witnessed a revolution that was remarkably bloodless.
