WhatsApp chat used to launder cash for crime and extremism

An investigation by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) investigative journalism network, including the BBC, uncovered a WhatsApp group chat called 'Traders of Greater Europe' used to launder hundreds of millions of euros in cash across borders, with no paper trail. The 532-member group, active between late February and December 2022, arranged cash transfers using the ancient hawala system, which relies on trusted brokers and avoids electronic records. The investigation found payments from Brussels went to Islamic State militants in Syria, and the network also facilitated people smuggling and drug trafficking. Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra uncovered the group chat on the phone of Abu Adam, a convicted money launderer, and described the scale as 'staggering.' The EBU also found other hawala networks across Europe, including a Vienna kebab restaurant used as a hawala office for people smuggling, and a ring that transported about 100,000 people into Europe. The investigation highlights hawala as a primary money-laundering channel for organized crime, with hawaladars indifferent to the source of funds.