French courts sentenced Sami Allem to 3 years in prison with a year probation and Abderrahman Cheikh received a 2 year prison sentence with 2 years of probation. The pair were arrested in raids in 2020 which broke an alleged terror financing ring consisting of 29 suspects. The individuals were accused of sending nearly €280,000 euros to French ‘terrorist’ in Syria. The state alleged the funds went to financing Al-Qaeda and ISIS members.
Money was sent via the purchase of crypto currency vouchers valued between €10 to €150 euros (US$11 to $165), bought by French citizens aged 22 to 66, from local tobacco shops to help their relatives in Syria which were credited to accounts opened by recipients abroad and then cashed out on a crypto exchange platform.
