Fairfax Co. man accused of supporting ISIS
A Fairfax County man has been arrested and accused of sending money to the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) beginning in 2019. On Thursday, 33-year-old Mohamed Chhipa was arrested. Charging documents paint a picture of a lengthy FBI investigation, playing out mostly through social media.
According to the documents, the FBI began investigating Chhipa in 2019 based on posts he made on social media in support of ISIS and violent jihad. The documents point to a number of conversations Chhipa had with undercover FBI agents discussing violent attacks.
Later that same year, the FBI executed a search warrant on Chhipa’s home in Fairfax, Virginia. The documents say 100 items were seized from his home at the time including electronic devices. A review of those seized materials found “thousands of videos, pictures, essays, books, notes and search histories about extremist ideology, jihad, ISIS and violent propaganda.”
The FBI accuses Chhipa of sending large amounts of money overseas to support ISIS members. In a May 2020 conversation with on undercover FBI agent, the undercover agent asked if he would approve of his money directly contributing to restoring the calaphate, and he said he would, the documents state.
Beginning on October 2019, charging documents say Chhipa began sending money to support female ISIS members being held in refugee camps in Syria. Documents say Chhipa began using various virtual currencies to send funds to Syria through intermediaries.
Documents point to conversations Chhipa had online with someone identified as ISIS Member 1, as well as further conversations with undercover FBI agents about how to send the funds, and who he chooses to send money to.
The documents say one of the undercover agents asked Chhipa whether it was OK that women used money to escape a refugee cam and whether the women would seek to rejoin ISIS once free from the camp.
Chhipa responded by saying, “if they are free again… where else would they go,” charging documents say.
The documents say financial records obtained through grand jury subpoenas showed that between November of 2019 and July 2022, Chhipa purchased more than $172,000 in virtual currency. Additional records obtained from Coinbase and Binance showed Chhipa received over $15,000 in virtual currency from other individuals, presumably through online fundraising, bringing the total amount of virtual currency moved by Chhipa to over $188,000. Further analysis of the records showed that over $18,000 went to wallets known to be used by ISIS women in Syria, documents say. More than $35,000 went to wallets used in close proximity to meetings between Chhipa and an undercover FBI agent. Documents say $61,000 went to cryptocurrency wallets located in Turkey, and $60,000 remains unaccounted for.
The charging documents further detail Chhipa’s relationship with the person identified as ISIS Member 1 and the ISIS members conversations with an undercover FBI agent about Chhipa. The documents point to several conversations between FBI agents, Chhipa and ISIS Member 1 about fundraising and how to get money to ISIS women in Syria.
Over 19 pages of documents the FBI laid out their investigation of Chhipa, spanning years and pointing to specific conversations on social media about supporting ISIS.
FBI agents raided Chhipa’s home in Springfield, Virginia, and arrested him on Thursday. He was charged with providing and attempting to provide material support to a designated foreign terrorist organization (ISIS).
A preliminary hearing on this case is scheduled for May 10.
Source: msn
