SAN DIEGO (CNS) - A San Diego man accused of raising funds for Hamas through a fake charity is facing federal charges that include terrorism, wire fraud, and money laundering, the Department of Justice announced today.
Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi, 38, was arrested in San Diego Tuesday for allegedly raising around $600,000 for Hamas and for his own personal use through online fundraising campaigns, which purported to provide humanitarian aid to people in Gaza, the DOJ alleges.
Prosecutors say he sent around $116,000 to a Hamas member and tried to convert about $382,000 into cryptocurrency to send to Hamas.
The DOJ alleges Sabassi also publicly supported Hamas, including in
"an hour-long propaganda video of the October 7 Hamas Massacres'' that he allegedly created, then posted on his social media accounts a few months after the attack and again on the attack's two-year anniversary.
Sabassi is being prosecuted in the Southern District of New York.
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