How Israeli intelligence helped solve the case | Delhi News
New Delhi: Communication from a foreign intelligence agency to Indian intelligence reporting crypto wallets operated and maintained by al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, led Delhi police to solve a crypto-hacking case one of a kind.
In July last year, Israel’s Defense Ministry’s National Counterterrorism Financing Bureau announced that it had seized a number of Hamas-linked digital wallets. The ministry ordered the accounts frozen after a joint operation with a cryptocurrency tracking firm uncovered a network of e-wallets used by Hamas to raise funds. The list of accounts has been shared with various countries including India.
A few months ago, Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana called for the case to be given priority consideration. A special team led by DCP KPS Malhotra has been formed within Special Cell’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Ops unit to start a multi-angle probe. A few recipients of the stolen cryptocurrency have been identified. One of the recipients matched the one reported by foreign intelligence services. The revelations alarmed Indian security agencies as it meant the embezzled money was being used in financing global terrorism.
Hamas, blacklisted as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, is known to use cryptocurrencies, which are relatively difficult to trace and offer some anonymity online, to raise funds and transfer them using a series of digital wallets.
In early 2019, the al-Qassam Brigades searched their social media page for Bitcoin donations to fund their terror campaign. He also made this claim on his official websites. He gave video instructions on how to donate anonymously.
A report on the US Immigration & Customs Enforcement website showed that a crackdown had been launched against al-Qassam Brigades and its online cryptocurrency fundraising efforts in 2020. In December of the same year, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Treasury announced the dismantling. of three terrorist financing campaigns involving the al-Qassam Brigades, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
US authorities have seized millions of dollars, more than 300 cryptocurrency accounts, three websites and four Facebook pages linked to the criminal enterprise. They tracked and seized 150 cryptocurrency accounts that directly laundered funds for the al-Qassam Brigades. Simultaneously, criminal search warrants for US-based donors were executed. Law enforcement also seized the infrastructure of al-Qassam Brigades websites and the secretly operated alqassam.net site.
During the covert operation, when people thought they were providing material support to the terrorist organization, they instead transferred the funds to US-controlled Bitcoin wallets. Details of these operations have been shared with other countries for appropriate action and strategy development.
Special Cell is currently investigating other reported cases of crypto wallet hacks in the country to determine whether Hamas-run entities have targeted more such accounts in India. “Appropriate preventive measures will be taken,” Malhotra said.
In July last year, Israel’s Defense Ministry’s National Counterterrorism Financing Bureau announced that it had seized a number of Hamas-linked digital wallets. The ministry ordered the accounts frozen after a joint operation with a cryptocurrency tracking firm uncovered a network of e-wallets used by Hamas to raise funds. The list of accounts has been shared with various countries including India.
A few months ago, Delhi Police Commissioner Rakesh Asthana called for the case to be given priority consideration. A special team led by DCP KPS Malhotra has been formed within Special Cell’s Intelligence Fusion and Strategic Ops unit to start a multi-angle probe. A few recipients of the stolen cryptocurrency have been identified. One of the recipients matched the one reported by foreign intelligence services. The revelations alarmed Indian security agencies as it meant the embezzled money was being used in financing global terrorism.
Hamas, blacklisted as a terrorist group by the United States and the European Union, is known to use cryptocurrencies, which are relatively difficult to trace and offer some anonymity online, to raise funds and transfer them using a series of digital wallets.
In early 2019, the al-Qassam Brigades searched their social media page for Bitcoin donations to fund their terror campaign. He also made this claim on his official websites. He gave video instructions on how to donate anonymously.
A report on the US Immigration & Customs Enforcement website showed that a crackdown had been launched against al-Qassam Brigades and its online cryptocurrency fundraising efforts in 2020. In December of the same year, the Department of Justice, the Department of Homeland Security and the Treasury announced the dismantling. of three terrorist financing campaigns involving the al-Qassam Brigades, al-Qaeda and the Islamic State.
US authorities have seized millions of dollars, more than 300 cryptocurrency accounts, three websites and four Facebook pages linked to the criminal enterprise. They tracked and seized 150 cryptocurrency accounts that directly laundered funds for the al-Qassam Brigades. Simultaneously, criminal search warrants for US-based donors were executed. Law enforcement also seized the infrastructure of al-Qassam Brigades websites and the secretly operated alqassam.net site.
During the covert operation, when people thought they were providing material support to the terrorist organization, they instead transferred the funds to US-controlled Bitcoin wallets. Details of these operations have been shared with other countries for appropriate action and strategy development.
Special Cell is currently investigating other reported cases of crypto wallet hacks in the country to determine whether Hamas-run entities have targeted more such accounts in India. “Appropriate preventive measures will be taken,” Malhotra said.