Chechen in Vienna accused of transferring 73 million to ISIS
A lawsuit has been filed in the Vienna City Court against a 33-year-old Chechen man named Yusup M. on suspicion of collecting millions for the organization "ISIS". The trial sessions will begin next Tuesday. The public prosecutor's office in Vienna, in a detailed 105-page indictment, accuses the defendant of having collected millions of euros from Vienna since 2018 for fighters and members of the organization in Syria and Iraq, including the children and relatives of those detained. The prosecution claims that the defendant was directly connected to key members of "ISIS".
According to the investigation, Yousuf M. started as an individual initiator collecting donations for detained women in camps like Al-Hawl and Roj, and then in the spring of 2022, he joined the "Jamaat" group, which included members living in Germany, Belgium, and Turkey, aimed at organizing central fundraising campaigns in Europe to support deceased, detained, or fighting "ISIS" members and to secure their release. The total donations through one channel on Telegram reached approximately $73.5 million (about €62.8 million) by the summer of 2024. Yousuf took on the role of the group's administrative leader, overseeing the treasury of "Jamaat" and issuing ongoing directives via social media channels, including instructions on using the funds to purchase weapons, and he planned to secure the release of a young woman nearing twenty for $7,000.
Magomed E., a prominent Chechen foreign fighter for ISIS, helped with over $60,000 between 2023 and 2024 to ensure his family's support in case of his death. According to the indictment, the funding for weapon purchases was facilitated by instructions such as: "Send them money to buy about three rifles." The transfers initially took place in cash through Turkey, then evolved into cryptocurrency transfers to electronic wallets. To confirm the seriousness of the donation motives, Jamaat used impactful images of children without their mothers in campaigns aimed at eliciting sympathy and attracting donors. In one of his conversations, the accused wrote: "Brothers, pictures of children without their mothers are taken only because it facilitates recurring donations. No tents! Just pictures of children and cash notes."
The police are analyzing secretly stored conversations from the Telegram app that show the organization and coordination of the use of images and propaganda methods. It has also been proven that there are international relations with Chechen members in Austria, Germany, Belgium, and Turkey, and the leaders of 'Jamaat' met in person in mid-August 2022 at the 'Pöhl' dam in Saxony, Germany.
The defendant completely denies the charges, stating that he has no connection to 'ISIS', has not participated in any Telegram groups, and has not organized any fundraising. He added that the Chechen community in Austria knows he worked for the police in his homeland, so they do not trust him at all.