WhatsApp Group Linked to Global Cash Transfers for Crime, Terrorism

A WhatsApp group was used to coordinate the movement of hundreds of millions of euros in cash across borders, with the system allegedly facilitating organised crime and extremist activities while leaving little conventional financial trail.

In a report by BBC, the 532-member group, known as “Traders of Greater Europe”, was used to arrange cash transfers for clients across several countries, including payments to cities in the UK such as Birmingham and London.

In one case, money transferred from Brussels was allegedly sent to members of the Islamic State (IS) group in Syria.

The investigation was conducted by the European Broadcasting Union’s (EBU) investigative journalism network, which includes the BBC, and also uncovered evidence of similar cash-transfer networks being used in drug trafficking and people smuggling.

The WhatsApp group contained more than 82,000 messages exchanged between February and December 2022. It was uncovered by Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra during an investigation into terror financing.

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Guerra described the scale of the transactions as “staggering” and said the network extended across “the entire planet”. He said the initial investigation into terrorism financing eventually revealed a much broader financial network.

Members communicated in Arabic to arrange cash payments through hawala, an informal system that enables money to be transferred between countries without electronic transactions or the physical movement of banknotes.

Under the system, brokers known as hawaladars operate in different locations. One broker receives cash from a sender while another pays an equivalent amount, minus a commission, to the intended recipient. The brokers later settle their outstanding balances between themselves.

Hawala is widely used for legitimate purposes, particularly by migrant workers sending money to relatives in countries where access to conventional banking services is limited.

However, the system can also be exploited by criminals seeking to bypass formal international payment networks such as Swift, where banks monitor unusual transactions and are required to report suspicious activity.

The Traders of Greater Europe group was reportedly reserved for transfers above €5,000 (£4,279), with many transactions involving substantially larger sums. There is no evidence that every member of the group was involved in criminal financial activity.

Hawala is illegal in many countries, including most European Union member states, while it is permitted in the UK provided brokers are registered with HM Revenue and Customs.

The EBU obtained the WhatsApp messages following a Belgian court case in 2024 that resulted in the conviction of six money launderers, including Abu Adam, identified as the network’s Brussels leader, and his deputy, Abu Ahmed.

Belgian investigators found evidence that the men had transferred money to IS, allegedly to assist the wives of militants seeking to escape detention camps in Syria.

When Abu Adam was arrested, investigators discovered the Traders of Greater Europe chat on his mobile phone.

Guerra said the discovery provided an unprecedented insight into the network’s operations.

The phone also contained about 6,000 photographs of €5 notes showing their serial numbers, as well as 6,000 photographs of identity documents.

According to Guerra, such information can serve as identifying references in hawala transactions, with the volume of photographs suggesting Abu Adam may have handled at least 12,000 transactions.

“This isn’t just amateur work; it’s professional, and at a level we could never have imagined,” he said. “They’re bankers with no government oversight.”

The EBU investigation also identified other criminal networks across Europe that allegedly used hawala to move money.

A former money launderer involved in European hawala networks, referred to as Frank, told investigators that he had participated in transactions worth several hundred million euros.

He said his introduction to the system came at an office near Rotterdam, where five or six couriers arrived within about 90 minutes carrying cash. He estimated that at least €1m was transferred during the operation.

“What I found out later is that it’s not just about money. It’s about the financing of terror. It’s about drug trafficking. It’s about prostitution and all sorts of other crap, to put it nicely,” he said.

Investigations in Austria have also uncovered alleged links between hawala networks, people smuggling and violence.

Austrian broadcaster ORF, part of the EBU investigative network, reported that police had raided what they described as the “biggest hawala office in Vienna”.

The operation was reportedly run from a kebab restaurant and allegedly used to arrange payments linked to people smuggling.

Two Syrian brothers who operated the business were charged with human trafficking and with torturing and raping a courier who claimed to have lost €350,000 (£300,000).

They were convicted last year and sentenced to 18 and eight years in prison respectively.

Austrian police and Europol have also dismantled another people-smuggling network allegedly financed through hawala. Authorities said the operation had facilitated the movement of about 100,000 people into Europe over an 18-month period.

Gerald Tatzgern, who heads human-trafficking investigations at Austria’s Criminal Intelligence Service, told ORF that violence and torture were used by some smugglers to increase their profits.

He said: “Videos of the torture are then sent to the families, saying that if they don’t send another €1,000 or several thousand euros, then the person concerned – your son, your brother, your father – will suffer.”

According to Tatzgern, hawala was used to collect payments demanded to stop the abuse.

Quentin Mugg, a police commander and Europol liaison officer who has led several money-laundering investigations, described hawala as “the primary money-laundering channel for organised crime”.

“Whether the money comes from migrant smuggling, human trafficking, pimping, a grandmother’s savings sent as a birthday present to her son, or a Malian working in France who wants to support his family, [the hawaladars] couldn’t care less,” he said. “And they’ll apply their rates.”