$9M USAID AID CHANNELED TO AL-QAEDA VIA FRAUD SCHEME IN SYRIA … MEALS-ON-WHEELS TO THE ENEMY!
Mahmoud al-Hafyan, a 53-year-old Syrian national, has been charged with diverting over $9 million in U.S.-funded humanitarian aid intended for Syrian civilians to the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), formally known as the Nusra Front, an al-Qaeda-affiliated terrorist organization.
A 12-count indictment, unsealed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., accuses al-Hafyan of major fraud against the U.S. government and support for terrorism.
HUMANITARIAN AID MISUSED FOR PERSONAL AND TERRORIST GAINS
Al-Hafyan, also known as Abu Abdo al-Homsi, allegedly directed food kits intended for war-affected Syrian refugees to HTS commanders.
These kits, funded through the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), were instead sold on the black market, with proceeds benefiting both HTS and al-Hafyan himself. Beneficiary logs were falsified, inflating the numbers to misrepresent the aid distribution.
USAID FUNDING AND OPERATIONS
The U.S. government allocated $122 million to al-Hafyan’s nongovernmental organization (NGO) between 2015 and 2018 for food aid.
The indictment alleges that millions of dollars in kits were diverted, highlighting vulnerabilities in monitoring mechanisms for humanitarian assistance.
The aid was meant to support Syrian civilians suffering due to the ongoing conflict, which has displaced millions since 2011.
- U.S. Attorney Matthew Graves: “This defendant not only defrauded the U.S. government but also redirected aid to a terrorist organization. This office will continue to hold individuals accountable for crimes affecting U.S. interests, no matter how long it takes.”
STATEMENTS FROM AUTHORITIES
While this foreign terrorist organization fought with the cruel al-Assad regime, the people who were supposed to receive the aid suffered. This office has a history of pursuing criminals around the globe, no matter how many years it takes, and will do all it can to ensure that Mahmoud Al Hafyan is held accountable for these crimes.
U.S. Attorney Matthew Gravesnormal
- USAID-OIG Special Agent Jason Donnelly: “We remain vigilant to ensure U.S.-funded humanitarian programs do not support terrorism.”
USAID OIG works tirelessly to ensure that US-funded humanitarian assistance does not fall into the hands of terrorist organizations. We will continue to work with the Department of Justice and law enforcement partners to hold accountable those who compromise USAID programs for vulnerable populations around the world.
USAID-OIG Special Agent Jason Donnellynormal
- FBI Special Agent Sanjay Virmani: “This case exemplifies the FBI’s dedication to combating terrorism, including financial support networks.”
Al Hafyan diverted millions of dollars in USAID funding to support the terrorist organization Al-Nusrah Front, as well as to line his own pockets. Not only was Al Hafyan supporting violent terrorists, but he was stealing money from the U.S. government that was meant for humanitarian efforts. This public indictment is the culmination of years of work, and I want to thank our partners, specifically USAID OIG, for their work with this investigation.
FBI Special Agent Sanjay Virmaninormal
HTS’s violent activities
HTS, designated a foreign terrorist organization by the US, is known for its extremist operations, including mass executions, suicide bombings, and kidnappings.
The group has long sought the overthrow of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and has been active in the region’s conflict.
Investigation and legal proceedings
The case was investigated by USAID-OIG and the FBI Washington Field Office. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Karen Seifert, Alexandra Hughes, and Jack Korba are prosecuting.
… AND THE BEAT GOES ON … USAID Sent Over $18 Billion to Islamic Terror States
Why USAID is a national security threat.
WHO DOES SHE REPRESENT???
“It is really, really a sad day in America,” Rep. Ilhan Omar declared at a rally by Democrats outside USAID headquarters protesting President Trump’s reconstruction of the aid agency.
It wasn’t a sad day for America, but it was so for Somalia.
Over the last two years, USAID had funneled $2.3 billion in “humanitarian assistance” to Omar’s native Somalia. Last year it reported a request for $1.6 billion in aid and even with the Biden administration on the way out the door, it sent an additional $29 million in December 2024.
USAID support for Somalia had doubled under the Biden administration and with $3.3 billion from USAID allocated in the last 5 years, the end of the USAID gravy train for the Islamic terrorist state of Somalia must have been a painful blow for Omar, who is very close to the Somali regime. Former Somali Prime Minister Hassan Khaire had reportedly celebrated that “the interest of Ilhan are not Ilhan’s, it’s not the interest of Minnesota, nor is it the interest of the American people, the interest of Ilhan is that of the Somalian people and Somalia.”
It’s unknown if any of Omar’s Majerteen clan members benefited from the billions in American money, but considering the prominence of the clan in Somali politics, it’s likely to be the case.
Somalia, along with other Islamic terrorist entities, including the Taliban in Afghanistan, the Houthis in Yemen, and Hamas in Gaza, were among the top beneficiaries of USAID cash.
MORE MEALS-ON-WHEELS ...
USAID boasted of having sent $2.1 billion to Gaza and the West Bank since the Hamas attacks of Oct 7. In 2024 alone, $917 million was programmed for the terrorist areas occupying Israel.
USAID provided over $3.7 billion to Afghanistan since the Taliban took over with $832 million in the previous fiscal year alone. The money was so unaccountable that USAID refused to cooperate with the U.S. Government’s Afghan War watchdog tracking money going to terrorists.
Even while the United States of America was at war with the Houthis, the Iran-backed Islamic terrorist group firing on US Navy vessels, USAID continued to direct billions of dollars to Yemen.
In 2024, USAID announced a $2.7 billion aid request for Yemen and allocated $753 million. In the last 5 years, USAID provided an estimated $3.4 billion in aid to an enemy terror state.
Other Islamic terrorist states that have heavily drawn on USAID include Pakistan which harbored Osama bin Laden, but benefited from $600 million in the last 5 years. While some American towns and cities lacked clean drinking water, USAID labored to build plants for Pakistan’s majority Muslim population even while it engaged in the persecution of Christians.
USAID spent over $700 million on Iraq during the last 5 years even though the country has long since been governed by Iranian puppets whose militias have been firing on American soldiers.
$3.4 billion was directed to Syria over the past 5 years by USAID even as it was caught in a civil war between Shiite Islamists aligned with Iran and Sunni Islamists aligned with Al Qaeda.
USAID allocated $1.1 billion to spend on Lebanon even as the country was run by Hezbollah.
While USAID is unable to function in Iran, between Yemen, Lebanon, Syria and Iraq, over $8 billion was sent to Iranian puppet regimes even without counting the money spent on Gaza.
In total, USAID had spent some $18.5 billion on Islamic terror states over those 5 years.
This is not a full list of USAID spending in Muslim countries, but only those countries whose governments are closely interlinked with terrorists, sponsor terrorist groups or serve as puppets of terror groups and states. Some of these countries are actively in a conflict with the U.S. They include countries responsible for the murder of American soldiers and terror attacks in the U.S.
USAID has sent $9.3 billion to Islamic terror states collectively responsible for killing over 3,000 American soldiers. Not only did Islamic terrorist states and groups kill us, but in the ultimate obscenity, we have rewarded them with millions of dollars for each of our murdered soldiers.
The reconstruction of USAID under the full umbrella of the State Department rather than as a ‘super-NGO’ advancing anti-American interests across the globe has been met with outrage by Rep. Ilhan Omar, Rep. Jim McGovern, Sen. Chris Murphy and other longtime shills for Islamic interests in America who worry that the money for Islamic terrorists won’t be there anymore.
But we ought to ask if sending $18 billion to Islamic terror states is helping our national security.
USAID has provided massive amounts of funding for the UN and NGO ‘non-profits’ which operate inside terrorist areas with little to no oversight. Special exemptions have been handed out to allow distributors of ‘humanitarian aid’ to partner with and do business with terrorists.
Including some of the Islamic terrorist groups that America is still at war with.
USAID’s partnerships with foreign governments, and with large unaccountable organizations including the UN and the World Bank, have raised concerns of money laundering. The revolving door between USAID personnel and some of the non-profit and for-profit groups who all profit from it has also raised questions about the legitimacy of those arrangements. And USAID’s active efforts to deny information about its activities to SIGAR, the U.S. government’s Afghan war watchdog, as well as to the incoming Trump administration, makes it a rogue agency.
It may never be fully known how much of our foreign aid went into the pockets of Islamic terrorists, but the USAID freeze and consolidation under the State Department can help make sure that the aid pipeline stops being a way to fund the Islamic terrorists killing Americans.
