TURKEY-BASED CHARITY DIRECTOR ARRESTED ON U.S. TERRORISM CHARGES ALLEGING SUPPORT FOR HAMAS

NEW YORK — A senior executive of a United Kingdom-registered international charity has been arrested and charged in connection with an alleged scheme to provide financial support, supplies, and other resources to Hamas, a U.S.-designated Foreign Terrorist Organization, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Friday.

Mohammad Yousef Hasna, 45, of Istanbul, Turkey, also known as “Orhan Korkmaz” and “Abu al-Baraa,” was arrested in the United Kingdom following the unsealing of a three-count federal criminal complaint.

Federal prosecutors have charged Hasna with conspiracy to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to finance terrorism, and financing terrorism. Each charge carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in federal prison if he is convicted.

According to the criminal complaint, Hasna served as the global director of a purported international humanitarian organization, identified in court documents as the “Sham Charity.” Prosecutors allege he used that position to coordinate directly with senior Hamas leadership to move cash, supplies, and humanitarian goods into Gaza while concealing their ultimate destination and intended recipients.

Authorities allege Hasna worked extensively with Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas political leader and member of the organization’s Politburo who also served within Gaza’s Ministry of Social Development, an entity prosecutors describe as being controlled by Hamas.

According to investigators, Hasna and Hamad allegedly coordinated the delivery of humanitarian assistance beginning no later than 2023. Prosecutors claim the aid operation extended beyond legitimate humanitarian relief and instead involved the movement of cash, food, supplies, and other commodities directly under Hamas’s direction.

The complaint alleges that Hasna arranged cash deliveries, coordinated the transportation of truckloads of supplies from Egypt and other locations into Gaza, directed shipments to warehouses controlled either by the charity or Hamas-controlled entities, and distributed supplies according to recipient lists provided by Hamas leadership.

Federal prosecutors further allege the operation included efforts to disguise where humanitarian supplies were ultimately delivered. According to the complaint, shipments were sometimes documented in ways that concealed warehouse locations or omitted identifying signs that could reveal who controlled the facilities. Investigators also allege supplies were temporarily routed through Hamas-controlled agencies before being redistributed elsewhere.

The Justice Department stated that following the October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorist attacks in Israel, the charity reported a dramatic increase in revenue. According to financial disclosures cited in the complaint, the organization’s reported income nearly doubled from approximately $41.8 million during fiscal year 2023 to roughly $81.6 million during fiscal year 2024. Prosecutors also allege the organization reported spending approximately $91 million on charitable activities during the fiscal year ending July 31, 2025.

Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said disrupting financial support networks remains a key component of counterterrorism efforts.

“The money that flows from sham charities like the one described in the complaint fuels Hamas’s terrorist activities, including the atrocities the group committed on October 7,” Eisenberg said. “Hamas cannot function without injections of money through its illicit financial networks.”

United States Attorney Jamie McDonald for the Southern District of New York alleged that Hasna exploited humanitarian work to support a terrorist organization.

“Hasna worked closely with Hamas’s senior leadership to deliver supplies, food, funding, and other materials to terrorists under the guise of humanitarian aid,” McDonald said.

FBI Counterterrorism Division Assistant Director Jarod Brown said investigators believe the defendant knowingly coordinated assistance that benefited Hamas rather than civilians.

“According to the criminal complaint, the defendant coordinated his actions closely with a senior leader of Hamas and knew the resources were going to that group rather than to needy non-combatants,” Brown said.

Hamas has been designated by the United States as a Foreign Terrorist Organization since 1997. Federal authorities allege the organization has carried out numerous terrorist attacks over several decades, including the October 7, 2023, attack on Israel, during which Hamas militants killed more than a thousand people and took hundreds of hostages.

The investigation involved cooperation among U.S. authorities, United Kingdom law enforcement, and the Israeli Security Agency, with additional assistance from the Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs.

The case is being handled by the Southern District of New York’s National Security and International Narcotics Unit. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Sarah L. Kushner, Michael D. Lockard, and Juliana N. Murray are prosecuting the case with assistance from Alicia Cook of the Department of Justice’s National Security Division Counterterrorism Section.

Federal officials emphasized that the criminal complaint contains allegations only. Hasna is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law.

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