A former student from a US university was recently sentenced to seven and a half years behind bars for hiding financing to the Islamic terrorist group, Al-Qaeda. According to New York Post, 26-year-old Alaa Mohd Abusaad, who studied in University of Alabama, was ordered to spend 10 years of “supervised release” following the prison term.
The US Justice Department informed that Ms Abusaad, who has been held in the Shelby County Jail since her arrest in 2018, had pleaded guilty in 2019 to a charge of concealing terrorism financing after she told an undercover FBI employee how to send money to fighters engaged in terrorism. According to the Post, she also told the agent that “money” for the terrorists “is always needed”.
Ms Abusaad advised the FBI agent on how to send money in a manner that would avoid detection by law enforcement, the prosecutors said as per the report. She asked the FBI agent to use fake names and addresses when sending electronic transfers to avoid detection by police. The former college student even introduced the undercover agent to a financial facilitator who route money to “brothers that work with aq (Al-Qaeda)”.
The defence, on the other hand, argued that Ms Abusaad's childhood and mental health issues made her vulnerable to the dangers of the internet. Fox News reported that the court documents described a young girl ostracized by being the only Muslim family in housing projects in Tuscaloosa, where she faced bullying from other children and a teacher.
Also Read | 45-Year-Old Software Developer In US Lived Double Life As Hezbollah "Sleeper Agent": Report
Meanwhile, in another similar case, a New Jersey software developer, Alexei Saab, lived a double life as a “sleeper agent” for Islamic militant group Hezbollah, and scouted terror targets in New York City, federal prosecutors said earlier this month. Mr Saab, a US citizen since 2008, was arrested by the feds in 2019 and charged with several counts, including terrorism, for allegedly providing materials to the terrorist group. Now, he faces dozens of years in prison if convicted on all counts.
