A San Diego resident was arrested on suspicion of raising hundreds of thousands of dollars for Hamas through fundraising campaigns that appeared to be humanitarian aid efforts for residents of the Gaza Strip, the US Justice Department announced Wednesday.
Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi, 38, of San Diego, California, was charged in a five-count criminal complaint with terrorism, sanctions evasion, wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements, according to the Justice Department.
Sabassi was arrested Tuesday and appeared before US Magistrate Judge Steve B. Chu in the Southern District of California. If convicted, he could face significant prison terms. Each of the four charges carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.
According to the complaint, Sabassi allegedly operated social media accounts, crowdfunding websites, and a purported charity called Ikram - The Arab Charity Foundation Inc. Through them, prosecutors said, he solicited donations from around the world, including from US citizens, while claiming that the funds were intended to provide humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip. In practice, prosecutors alleged, the money was intended to support Hamas.
Court documents allege that between December 2023 and February 2024, Sabassi raised approximately $600,000. Of that amount, he allegedly sent approximately $116,000 to a Hamas member and attempted to convert approximately $382,000 into cryptocurrency in order to transfer the funds to Hamas through Gaza Now, a Hamas-linked fundraising organization.
Sabassi publicly expressed support for Hamas on social media
Investigators also alleged that Sabassi publicly expressed support for Hamas on social media. Among other things, he allegedly created an hour-long propaganda video about the October 7, 2023, Hamas massacre and posted it to at least two social media accounts that he controlled, including around the second anniversary of the massacre.
The complaint further alleges that in private conversations with one of his co-conspirators, the two joked about naming the fundraising campaign after the Izzadin al-Qassam Brigades, Hamas’s military wing, before ultimately deciding to use the name of Sabassi’s charity, Ikram.
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said Sabassi allegedly exploited the October 7 attacks in order to draw donors to fraudulent “humanitarian” causes.
“He allegedly raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through this scheme, which he then funneled to Hamas to help finance that group’s terror and violence and to line his own pockets,” Eisenberg said.
“Our arrest of Reda Sabassi demonstrates our whole-of-government commitment to prosecute those who provide financial support to a malign terrorist regime that hates America,” Clayton said.
The FBI also stressed the severity of the allegations.
“The defendant allegedly claimed to be raising money for charity but was actually funding the terrorist organization Hamas and also lining his own pockets,” said Donald Holstead, assistant director of the FBI’s Counterterrorism Division.