Uzbek national arrested in South Korea for financing KTJ and Hamas

On October 27 of this year, South Korean police arrested a 29-year-old Uzbek man suspected of financing terrorist activities, The Chosun Daily reported.

According to the report, the Uzbek national was detained on suspicion of violating the Anti-Terrorism Act and the Prohibition of Financing Terrorism Act. The arrest was carried out in cooperation with the National Intelligence Service and the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). Authorities allege that the suspect operated under the guise of a charity organization, fraudulently raising more than 952 million won (over $663,000). He reportedly managed accounts on eight social media platforms, including Instagram, to promote extremist organizations.

The man is believed to have collected about 620,000 units of the virtual asset USDT (Tether) under the pretext of supporting charity projects aimed at drilling wells in Africa. At the time of arrest, the total value of these assets was estimated at approximately 952 million Korean won.

According to police, a portion of the collected funds was transferred to the groups Katibat al-Tawhid wal-Jihad (KTJ) and Hamas, both of which are designated as terrorist organizations by the United Nations. Official estimates suggest the transferred amount totaled around 27 million won.

’’It is rare that the exact amount of funds sent to Hamas can be identified. The total could be even higher,’’ a police spokesperson said.

Investigations also revealed that the man posted multiple extremist messages on Instagram, including calls such as ’’Let us wage a holy war in the path of Allah.’’ In addition, he shared links to local and international bank accounts and credit card payment options to collect donations.

He also established a football club in the Gyeonggi Province to directly collect funds from members of his ethnic community. The amount of money raised through the club has not yet been determined.

The suspect reportedly arrived in South Korea in 2018 on a student visa but later dropped out of school. Since March 2023, he has been applying for refugee status. Before his arrest, he had submitted 11 asylum applications, all of which were denied.

’’Applications for refugee status usually take around three months to review. It is believed that the Uzbek man used the application period to legally extend his stay in South Korea,’’ a police official stated.

Authorities also revealed that the man had previously been accused of financing terrorism in Uzbekistan and was on a domestic wanted list. The Embassy of Uzbekistan had revoked his passport and requested that South Korean police arrest him.

Police identified his location through surveillance cameras and financial transactions, arresting him on October 16 in a dormitory in Anseong. During the operation, eight mobile phones and one laptop were confiscated, six of which are currently under forensic examination.

The investigation is ongoing to determine whether the Uzbek national accumulated additional cryptocurrency or cash assets while living in South Korea, and whether he had any accomplices.

It is worth noting that earlier, the State Committee for National Security of Kyrgyzstan detained a suspect in Bishkek who had threatened to carry out terrorist attacks in shopping centers.