US seizes millions of dollars in cryptocurrency from ISIS
The US Department of Justice found these funds that were used in criminal activities of the Al-Qaeda group
The United States Department of Justice seized some 300 cryptocurrency accounts which were used in criminal activities by the group Al-Qaeda and ISIS.
According to the announcement, which did not specify the full amount of crypto assets, this operation is considered the largest that is related to this type of currencies.
A wide range of agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the IRS, participated in the campaign which shut down a number of websites and Facebook pages that openly or, in the case of a fraudulent site selling medical masks, covertly raised funds for terrorist operations.
Investigative chief Don Fort, said the IRS used its new cryptocurrency tracking capabilities to give the funds involved.
“The ability of the IRS-CI to trace funds used by terrorist groups back to their origin and to dismantle the communication and financial networks of these radical groups directly prevents them from wreaking havoc around the world”, they said.
Given that at least one of the images in the DoJ showing a bitcoin address belonging to an ISIS affiliate has been floating around government channels for over a year, these are clearly long-term capabilities that the agencies involved have worked on. to develop.
K. Tovar
Source: NPR
