BBC investigation: Millions of euros moved through WhatsApp to finance organized crime and extremism!

A large WhatsApp group was used to organize the transfer of hundreds of millions of euros in cash to various countries around the world, creating an informal financial system that, according to an investigation by European broadcasters, was also exploited to finance organized crime and extremism.

The group, called “Traders of Greater Europe,” had 532 members and served to coordinate cross-border money transfers for various clients.

The destinations included British cities such as London and Birmingham.

In one case documented by the investigation, payments sent from Brussels ended up with Islamic State (IS) militants in Syria.

The investigative network of the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), which includes the BBC, also uncovered broader evidence that similar informal money-transfer systems had been used for human and drug trafficking.

More than 82,000 messages in the group

The WhatsApp group contained more than 82,000 messages sent from late February through December 2022. It was first discovered by Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra, who was investigating a case linked to terrorist financing.

According to Guerra, the number of transactions was “staggering” and the network extended across “the entire planet.”

The investigation began as a terrorist-financing case, but authorities later realized that this represented only a small part of the network’s financial activity.

Group members also communicated in Arabic to organize cash payments through the traditional money-transfer system known as “hawala.”

How does the “hawala” system work?

Hawala is an informal money-transfer system based on a network of trusted intermediaries. Money can be transferred from one country to another without physically transporting banknotes and without necessarily creating an electronic record of the transaction.

Under such a scheme, one intermediary receives the money in one location, while another intermediary in a different location delivers the same amount, minus the commission, to the recipient. The two intermediaries settle their financial obligations with each other later.

The system is also used for entirely legitimate purposes. For example, migrant workers may use it to send money to their families in countries where access to the banking system is limited.

However, the lack of an electronic trail also makes the mechanism attractive to criminal groups, which can avoid traditional international money-transfer systems and banks’ anti-money-laundering controls.

Payments to ISIS militants

The “Traders of Greater Europe” group was reserved for transactions of more than 5,000 euros, while in many cases the sums were much higher.

The Belgian investigation uncovered evidence that some of those involved had sent money to the Islamic State, with the aim of using it to help the wives of militants held in detention camps in Syria.

After the arrest of Abu Adam, considered the leader of the network in Brussels, authorities found the WhatsApp group on his phone. According to Guerra, discovering the conversations was like “hitting the jackpot,” as investigators were able to closely observe how a large-scale underground financial system operated.

About 6,000 photographs of 5-euro banknotes, showing their serial numbers, were also found on the phone, along with around 6,000 photographs of identity documents.

According to investigators, this data was used as identification codes in hawala transactions. The number of banknotes and documents suggests that Abu Adam alone may have processed at least 12,000 transactions.

In 2024, a Belgian court convicted six people of money laundering, including Abu Adam and the network’s second-in-command, Abu Ahmed.