Uncle sentenced for sending money to Islamist fighter nephew

A man has been sentenced for sending money to his nephew who was fighting for a proscribed terrorist organisation in Syria.

Farhad Mohammad, 46, made payments through a middleman intended for his nephew, who at the time in 2017 was an Islamist fighter actively involved in terrorism.

Mohammad was arrested by counter terrorism police on an outbound journey from Stansted Airport to Turkey on 28 February 2018 in possession of three mobile phones.

Following analysis of the seized phones, it was discovered that Mohammad had a Facebook account that he was using to message his nephew.

The messages from the nephew explained that he was fighting and included requests for money from Mohammad for various purposes, such as a car, a weapon, rent, hospital treatment, and a mobile phone, over a period of months.

Examination of Western Union transactions by Mohammad revealed a payment of 200 US Dollars was made to a middleman in January 2018.

A further transfer was made in November 2017 when Mohammad was abroad and although there was no direct record of the transactions, it was clear from messages between the pair that money was sent and received.

In one message recovered Mohammad’s nephew wrote: “Uncle for the sake of God send me [money] to buy a weapon, it is the one, which I like it, and may God reward you with good.”

During the trial, the prosecution was able to prove that Mohammad knew the money was going to his nephew to support a terrorist cause. It did not matter that Mohammad did not support the cause himself.

At the Central Criminal Court on 26 April, Mohammad was found guilty of two counts of entering into or becoming concerned in an arrangement as a result of which money or other property is made available or is to be made available to another.

He was sentenced today at the same court to a three-year community order, with 250 hours of unpaid work, an electronically monitored curfew for three months and 30 days of rehabilitation activity. 

The prosecution followed an investigation by the Metropolitan Police's Counter Terrorism Command.

Bethan David, Head of the CPS Counter Terrorism Division, said: “It was clear that Farhad Mohammad sent funds to his nephew via an intermediary and was well aware of his involvement with terrorism.

“In recovered Facebook messages, Mohammad’s nephew talked openly about being an Islamist fighter in Syria and asked for money to fund his cause and life.

“So there can be no doubt that Mohammad knew that his money was going to sustain and support his nephew while he was actively engaged in terrorism.

“The CPS will always seek to prosecute those who support terrorism in any way.”