CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ MONEY LAUNDERING AS A FORM OF FINANCING TERRORISM … a loan without repayment of the same, phishing and taking confidential banking information from citizens … 38 ) represent one more element in the financing of ISIL. Documented cases of evasion of value-added tax by ISIL members are providing evidence about another form of financing of the terrorist organization through financial manipulation of individuals. Huge amounts of money from the value-added tax were unlawfully appropriated by the resale of goods to other countries and the same is transferred to another account. 39 Most media attention and publicity were given because of the possession and use of Toyota vehicles by members of ISIL. Foreign fighters before joining ISIL take out car leases or loans and transfer the vehicles across Turkish territory to territory controlled by ISIL. Data of numerous intelligence services in the world point to the fact that the supporters of the terrorist organization supplied ISIL with cars not only from Europe but also from distant countries such as Canada and Australia. 40 Abuse of social security systems in European countries are often used for the purpose of ISIL sponsorship. Danish authorities discovered in 2015 that dozens of social assistance beneficiaries located in Syria and Iraq or in the territories are controlled by ISIL. In Britain, females originating from Syria and having a large number of births were used for taking money from social security and smuggling it to territory controlled by ISIL. In addition to these, other European countries such as France and Belgium used investigative methods to detect abuse of social security systems by fighters who joined ISIL ( Foreign Terrorist Fighters ) and, after detection of such suspicious activity, social assistance was denied and stopped. 41 ISIL terrorists are often using money transfer methods with multiple small sums in order to avoid the suspicion of financial-intelligence structures. Smurfing methods and placing deposits in multiple bank accounts are another way to avoid attracting the attention of financial investigative authorities (Magnus 2016). The Money Service Businesses (MSB) system for money transfer is suitable for raising cash in the border towns on the Turkish- Syrian border by ISIL recruits who, as foreign fighters, leave the territory of the self-proclaimed caliphate. Abuse of office employees was detected in the MSB system that helped transfers to go unnoticed, and the use of the MSB system by concerned parents who gave money in order to draw children manipulated by ISIL’s radical ideas. 42 Due to increased supervision of the suspicious transactions by financial intelligence services via Western Union and the MBS system, members of ISIL were advised that any transfer of money had to be less than € 5,000 or $ 5,700 and it was desirable to carry out transfers through sympathizers and members in Bosnia (especially in the Brcko district) in order to cover up the purpose of the money to be transferred. 43 French police, in cooperation with the authorities of other countries, revealed that members of ISIL who carried out the attack on Paris in November 2015 in order to cover

38 British police discovered in 2015. numerous frauds made by ISIL members. 39 RANSTORP, M., “Microfinancing the Caliphate: How the Islamic State is Unlocking the Assets of European Recruits”, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point , Volume 9, Issue 5. ( 2016). 40 Ibid. 41 RANSTORP, M., “Microfinancing the Caliphate: How the Islamic State is Unlocking the Assets of European

Recruits”, Combating Terrorism Center at West Point , Volume 9, Issue 5. (2016). 42 Testimony of foreign fighters families (FTF) in the Hague and Stockholm 2014. 43 Ibid.

287