Virginia man sentenced to 30 years in ISIS crypto scheme

Yahoo

09-05-2025

May 9 (UPI) -- A Virginia resident has been sentenced to more than 30 years in prison for providing material and financial support to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham, known as ISIS, the Justice Department announced Thursday. The United States has designated ISIS a terrorist organization.
Mohammed Azharuddin Chhipa, 36, collected and sent money to female ISIS members between 2019 and 2022 to help finance their escape from prison camps, and also to fund ISIS fighters, the Justice Department said in a statement.
Attorney General Pam Bondi said Chhipa's sentencing is evidence of the United States' effort to prosecute those who support terrorist groups.
Court documents show that Chhipa would raise money in various ways, including by using social media accounts to raise at least $185,000 to fund his operation.
"He would receive electronic transfers of funds and travel hundreds of miles to collect funds by hand," the Justice Department release said. "He would then convert the money to cryptocurrency and send it to Turkey, where it was smuggled to ISIS members in Syria."
The Justice Department said Chhipa's primary co-conspirator was a Syria-based ISIS member who also raised financing for prison escapes, terror attacks and ISIS fighters.
A federal jury in December 2024, convicted Chhipa of one count of conspiracy to provide material support or resources to a designated foreign terrorist organization and four counts of providing and attempting to provide material support or resources to a foreign terrorist organization.
The FBI Field Office in Washington investigated the case.