Key Takeaways:
- 2019 crypto theft traced to Hamas wallets.
- Bitcoins in Delhi businessman’s e-wallet traced to wallets operated in Egypt, Palestine.
- Police recovered all the details of the accounts.
In 2019, a Delhi-based businessman had registered a police complaint to Paschim Bihar that he had been defrauded of his cryptocurrencies worth Rs 30 lakh.
Now, Delhi Police Cyber Cell has busted a gang that stole cryptocurrency from a businessman here and transferred the amount to the wallets to the organisation Hamas. They revealed the scammers had sent the money to accounts of the militant wing of Hamas, a Palestine-based Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist and nationalist organisation.
On Monday, the Delhi Police’s Cyber Cell said a Delhi-based businessman’s cryptocurrencies were allegedly stolen and transferred to the wallets of Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Palestinian organisation Hamas.
“The matter came to light in 2019 when the businessman reported at the police station that some unknown persons had fraudulently transferred cryptocurrencies from his wallet, they said.
“The cryptocurrencies were worth about Rs 30 lakh, and its current value is Rs 4 crore“, police said.
On the court’s orders, the investigation into the case was later transferred to the Cyber Crime Unit of Delhi Police’s Special Cell.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (Cyber Cell) KPS Malhotra said, “During the course of the investigation, the cryptocurrency trail led to startling facts, that the cryptocurrencies have ended up in the wallets maintained by Al-Qassam Brigates, which is the military wing of Palestinian organisation Hamas and to the wallets which Israel’s National Bureau has already seized for Counter Terror Financing. The seized wallet belongs to Mohammad Naseer Ibrahim Abdulla.”
A significant share of the cryptocurrencies has been transferred to one wallet operated from Giza, Egypt, to Ahmed Marzooq. In contrast, the officer said another wallet belonged to Ahmed Q H Safi, a resident of Ramallah, Palestinian.
The investigation conducted so far has revealed that the bitcoins and other cryptocurrencies were fraudulently transferred from the wallet of the businessman, he added.
The police said they had recovered all details of these accounts, and while some were used for financing terror operations, others were used for accessing child pornography.
