AST July 2018 Magazine AST July 2018 Magazine Issue 24 | Page 38

Volume 25 Hesham
Mohamed
Youssef
Mohamed Hesham
Youssef was in-
dicted in Florida in
2004 for allegedly
providing financial
support – including
recruits – for al Qae-
da and other terror-
ist groups to terror-
ist groups fighting
in Afghanistan, Chechnya, Kosovo
and Somalia, including helping his
co-conspirator, “dirty bomb” sus-
pect Jose Padilla attend terrorist
training camps in Afghanistan.
The indictment identified more than
two dozen checks, totaling $53,000,
that were written by Hassoun from
1994 to 2001 and were allegedly
aimed at supporting terrorist activi-
ties and groups.
Many of the checks were written to char-
ities such as the Holy Land Foundation
and the Global Relief Foundation, which
have been targets of U.S. counterterror-
ism investigations or prosecutions.
July 2018 Edition
Mohamed Hesham Youssef
The charges also recount detailed
conversations, apparently recorded
through wiretaps, between Hassoun
and Youssef in which they allegedly
discussed jihad, primarily through
code words.
For example, in 1996 Youssef allegedly
told Hassoun that he was “ready for trade
immediately.”
Hassoun allegedly responded that “there
is now trade in Somalia” and urged
Youssef to “get yourself ready to go down
there and see.”
Hassoun added that “there is jihad”
in Somalia, the indictment said.
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