Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
A WhatsApp group with 532 members became a window into a vast underground cash-transfer network, with more than 82,000 messages revealing how hundreds of millions of euros could move across borders without leaving the conventional banking trail. The group, called “Traders of Greater Europe”, was used by money brokers to arrange cash payments for clients in countries across the world, according to a BBC investigation conducted with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU).
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Some of the transactions had links to organised crime and extremist activity. In one case, money transferred from Brussels to Syria was linked to Islamic State (IS) militants, with Belgian authorities saying the payments were intended to help the wives of IS members escape detention camps.
The investigation also uncovered evidence pointing to the use of similar cash-transfer networks in drug trafficking. The “Traders of Greater Europe” group contained more than 82,000 messages exchanged between late February and December 2022. Members communicated in Arabic to arrange cash payments, often involving sums of more than €5,000. Many transactions were considerably larger.
The group was discovered by Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra during a case that initially focused on terror financing. What investigators found was far broader than expected.
Guerra described the volume of transactions as “staggering” and said the network covered “the entire planet”. The investigation, he said, eventually showed that the terror-financing case was “just a drop in the ocean of transactions”.
At the centre of the system was hawala, an informal money-transfer method that relies on trusted brokers rather than conventional banks.
HOW THE HAWALA SYSTEM WORKS
Under the hawala system, a person hands money to a broker, known as a hawaladar, in one country. That broker contacts another hawaladar in the destination country. The second broker then pays the recipient an equivalent amount, minus a commission. The two brokers settle their accounts between themselves at a later stage.
The arrangement means money does not necessarily have to physically cross a border. It can also avoid creating the conventional electronic trail associated with international bank transfers.
Hawala is not inherently criminal. It is widely used for legitimate purposes, including by migrant workers sending money to relatives in countries where access to formal banking services may be limited.
But its informal nature can also make it attractive to criminal networks seeking to move money beyond the reach of traditional financial monitoring. Most international bank transfers use systems such as SWIFT, while banks monitor transactions for suspicious activity and are required to report certain transactions to authorities.
Hawala transactions can instead be settled through networks of brokers, making it harder for investigators to establish a direct financial link between the original sender and final recipient.
BELGIAN INVESTIGATION UNCOVERS SCALE
According to the BBC, the cache of WhatsApp messages was obtained by the EBU after a Belgian court case in 2024 that resulted in the conviction of six money launderers. Among them were Abu Adam, described as the head of the Brussels network, and his deputy, Abu Ahmed.
Belgian police had found evidence that the network was sending money to people linked to IS. When Abu Adam was arrested, investigators found the “Traders of Greater Europe” group on his phone.
Guerra described the discovery as “hitting the jackpot” because the messages offered an unusually detailed look inside the workings of the underground financial system. Investigators also found around 6,000 photographs of €5 notes, including their serial numbers, as well as roughly 6,000 photographs of identity cards.
According to Guerra, such details can function as unique identifiers in hawala transactions. The material led him to estimate that Abu Adam had processed at least 12,000 transactions.
The EBU investigation found that the network uncovered in Belgium was not an isolated example. A former money launderer involved in European hawala networks, identified by the BBC as “Frank”, said he had been involved in transactions worth several hundred million euros.
He recalled an office in a small town outside Rotterdam where five or six messengers arrived within about 90 minutes carrying cash. Frank estimated that at least €1 million was transferred during that period.
His experience, he said, eventually showed him the system was being used for far more than moving money between individuals. The investigation found further evidence of hawala networks being used to support criminal operations in Europe, including people-smuggling activities.
HAWALA LINKS TO PEOPLE SMUGGLING
In Austria, broadcaster ORF, part of the EBU network, investigated what police described as one of the biggest hawala offices in Vienna. The operation was reportedly run from a kebab restaurant and was allegedly used to arrange payments linked to people smuggling.
Two Syrian brothers who operated the business were charged with human trafficking, as well as torturing and raping a courier who had lost €350,000. They were convicted last year and sentenced to 18 and eight years in prison respectively.
A separate operation involving Austrian police and Europol also exposed a people-smuggling network financed through hawala. Authorities said the network had transported around 100,000 people into Europe over an 18-month period, according to investigation.
The case has exposed the sheer scale at which hawala networks can operate across borders. For investigators, the challenge now is not simply tracking the money, but determining which transfers are legitimate and which are helping organised crime move, hide and access its proceeds.
– Ends
SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
