California man charged for fundraising for Hamas

New York: US federal prosecutors announced terrorism charges Wednesday against a California man for allegedly raising hundreds of thousands of dollars through a fake charity to fund Hamas.

Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi will face “terrorism, sanctions-evasion, wire fraud, money laundering, and false statement charges in connection with his efforts to divert funds raised through purported charitable campaigns to Hamas and for personal use,” the US Attorney for the Southern District of New York said in a statement.

The 38-year-old San Diego resident is accused of using social media accounts and crowdfunding websites to raise money while falsely promising to send humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, prosecutors said.

Sabassi is also accused of “publicly supporting Hamas online,” and creating “an hour-long propaganda video” to inspire donations in the wake of Hamas’ 2023 attack on Israel.

In the span of a few months following the attacks, Sabassi “raised a total of approximately $600,000 through online fundraising campaigns,” of which prosecutors said about $116,000 was sent “to a Hamas member.”

He also attempted to transmit another $382,000 in cryptocurrency to Hamas, prosecutors allege.

Sabassi was arrested Tuesday in San Diego and faced a federal judge in California. If convicted on all charges, he faces a maximum penalty of 85 years in prison.

The 35-page complaint alleges Sabassi is “a naturalized US citizen fluent in Arabic” and the profile photo for one of his X accounts “appears to be a photo of (Yahya) Sinwar, the former leader of Hamas who was killed on or about October 16, 2024” by Israel’s military.

According to the unsealed five-count complaint, prosecutors also noted Sabassi’s search history included the phrases “Hamas crypto” and “Do crypto wallets track your IP address.”

Hamas’s attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

More than 72,200 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli strikes on Gaza, according to the Gaza health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.