US Slaps Sanctions on Three in $2M Hamas Crypto Charity Scheme

The US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) imposed sanctions on three people and two charities, alleging they funneled $2 million to Hamas using cryptocurrency and sham charitable organizations.

The two charities are Association Baraka and Ensemble C Mieux. The three individuals are Saleem al-Zaq (a Hamas military wing member), and Faouzi Barika and Amel Oualid (France-based fundraisers).

The Justice Department (DOJ) also unsealed charges against al-Zaq and announced six arrests.

Charity Appeals in France, Crypto Transfers to Gaza

Treasury identified Saleem al-Zaq as a Gaza-based battalion deputy in Hamas’s armed wing. It said his network used money services businesses and crypto wallets to send funds to the Al-Qassam Brigades.

Barika and Oualid run the two charities, which claimed to raise aid for Gaza civilians. Treasury says they passed the money to al-Zaq, who forwarded it to Hamas.

Treasury did not disclose how much of the total was moved as crypto. It said Barika and Oualid sent al-Zaq hundreds of thousands of dollars in digital assets. OFAC’s entries list no wallet addresses.

The release also described the scheme in broader terms.

“These designations expose a sophisticated, multi‑year financing architecture that moved more than $2 million to Hamas through deceptive charitable fronts and cryptocurrency channels, demonstrating the organization’s persistent ability to adapt its fundraising mechanisms to evade detection,” the release said.

OFAC previously sanctioned Gaza-based crypto exchange Buy Cash in October 2023.

How the Alleged Funding Network Worked

According to US prosecutors and Treasury, the alleged scheme worked roughly like this:

• Donations were collected in France. Barika and Oualid allegedly raised money through charities that presented themselves as supporting civilians in Gaza.
• The money was pooled through traditional banking. Chainalysis said some of the funds were collected in a French bank account before being moved further.
• Al-Zaq allegedly asked for crypto. Prosecutors say he initially received money through Western Union. In December 2021, he allegedly asked a France-based partner to send Bitcoin or other digital currency instead.
• The goal was allegedly to make transfers harder to trace. According to the indictment, al-Zaq believed crypto could help hide where the money came from and where it was going.
• Funds were converted into crypto and sent onward. Treasury says Barika and Oualid transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars in digital assets to al-Zaq.
• The network allegedly changed exchanges when questioned. When one crypto platform asked about the source of funds in May 2023, the partner allegedly moved to another exchange.
• Blockchain investigators later traced connections. Chainalysis identified a counterparty linked to al-Zaq’s exchange deposit address. That counterparty also sent funds to exchange addresses that had received money from Hamas-linked wallets previously targeted by Israeli seizure orders.

Prosecutors say al-Zaq and his associates raised about $1.75 million through December 2025, including at least $626,000 from US donors. Treasury says the wider financing network moved more than $2 million to Hamas.