ICRF declares detained Baksan residents to be members of IS financing network

A brother and a sister detained in Kabardino-Balkaria transferred six million roubles raised in different regions of Russia to militants in Syria, investigators have reported today.

The "Caucasian Knot" has reported that on October 7, in Baksan, law enforcers detained Asker Khamukov, a founder of the "One Body" charity foundation. According to relatives of Asker Khamukov, his wife and sister were also detained.

Today, the investigators have confirmed the detention of the 25-year-old man and his 30-year-old sister in the terrorist financing case. The investigators suggest that starting from February 2015, while living in Kabardino-Balkaria, the suspects have been raising money via the Internet for the needs of the "Islamic State" (IS), a terrorist organization banned in Russia by the court.

"In particular, the suspects created a group in Telegram, to which they invited all interested persons who agreed to finance the above mentioned banned organization. During that period, more than six million roubles were raised under the pretext of charity, and the money were transferred abroad to finance terrorist crimes in the Syrian Arab Republic," reports Svetlana Petrenko, the spokesperson for the Investigating Committee of the Russian Federation (ICRF).

The law enforcement bodies reported on conducting over 90 searches at houses and apartments of those whom they considered as accomplices of the defendants.

This article was originally published on the Russian page of 24/7 Internet agency ‘Caucasian Knot’ on October 9, 2019 at 12:34 pm MSK. To access the full text of the article, click here.