LONDON: A WhatsApp hawala network with 532 members coordinated hundreds of millions of euros in cross-border cash transfers, some linked to organised crime and extremist financing, European broadcasters found.
The group, called “Traders of Greater Europe,” contained more than 82,000 messages sent between late February and December 2022.
Members used Arabic-language messages to arrange payments, including transactions involving London, Birmingham and Liverpool. Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra discovered the chat during an investigation into terrorist financing.
The European Broadcasting Union said its wider cross-border investigation examined how criminal networks use underground hawala systems for money laundering, drug trafficking, human trafficking and terrorist financing.
In one documented case, investigators linked payments originating in Brussels to Islamic State militants in Syria. However, the investigation did not allege that all 532 chat participants handled criminal money.
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The EBU obtained the message archive after a 2024 Belgian court case that convicted six money launderers. They included the Brussels network’s leader, identified as Abu Adam, and his deputy, Abu Ahmed.
Investigators also found about 6,000 photographs of €5 notes and 6,000 identity-card images on Abu Adam’s phone. Guerra said the material indicated that he had processed at least 12,000 transactions.
Hawala transfers move value through trusted brokers without requiring money to cross borders through conventional banking channels.
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The system also serves legitimate remittance customers. In the United Kingdom, businesses providing hawala and similar informal transfer services must register and comply with anti-money laundering rules.
