Wednesday, November 28, 2018

Zoobia Shahnaz, 27, Pakistani-American, Faces 20 Years for Using Bitcoin to Finance ISIS

Zoobia Shahnaz, 27, a Pakistani-American woman has admitted in a federal court to using Bitcoin to finance the ISIS through fronts in China, Pakistan and Turkey.



She admitted to committing credit card and loan fraud to raise money that she converted to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to send to ISIS, which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the US government, law enforcement officials said.

She faces up to 20 years in prison when she is sentenced.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are virtual computer-generated currencies that are difficult for governments to monitor and can be exchanged for cash beyond borders.

She came to the US on a visa meant for relatives of US citizens, according to Home Security Department spokesperson Tyler Houlton, and later became a US citizen.

She was a hospital technician in New York, got a fraudulent loan of $22,500 and raised money through more than a dozen credit cards obtained through fraud to buy Bitcoin and crytocurrencies worth $62,000.

Zoobia Shahnaz was arrested in July 2017 by the Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) as she was getting ready to go from a New York airport to Pakistan and travel from there to Syria via Turkey.

According to official reports, Shahnaz quit her job as a lab technician at a Manhattan hospital in June and obtained a Pakistani passport. A month later she was caught during an attempted to get on a flight at John F. Kennedy International Airport with the alleged intentions to leave the United States and join ISIS .

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