European investigation finds WhatsApp groups used to move hundreds of millions of euros to ISIS

BRUSSELS — A European investigation has found that WhatsApp chat groups were used to transfer hundreds of millions of euros in cash to terrorist networks and organized crime groups, according to reporting by the BBC and a European Broadcasting Union investigative journalism network. Belgian investigating judge Vincent Guiraud seized a WhatsApp group called "Great European Merchants" with 532 members, which organized cross-border cash transfers through more than 82,000 messages from late 2022 until the end of that year. Investigators traced payments routed from Brussels to ISIS militants in Syria. The same method was also used for human smuggling and drug trafficking, the broader investigation found. The system relies on agreements between two trusted "hawala"-style brokers communicating in Arabic: one side receives the cash and the counterparty delivers the same amount, minus a commission, to the recipient. Judge Guiraud described the transaction volume as "enormous" and said that while the inquiry initially focused on terrorist financing, it had since become "a drop in the ocean," with the scheme exploited to bypass bank scrutiny of large SWIFT transactions. No further details on arrests or charges were immediately available.