Terrorism Financing

Abstract

In February 2013, three men were convicted at Woolwich Crown Court in London of preparing an act of terrorism. The trio, Islamic extremists from Birmingham, had begun planning and organising an attack which they had hoped would be ‘another 9/11’; two of them had attended terrorist training camps in Pakistan, before starting to concoct homemade explosives. They and three others had also managed to raise over 13,500 which they intended to put towards their effort. This money was not obtained by requesting donations from sympathetic allies who wished to support them in planning the atrocity, but through bogus charity collections which exploited the goodwill of ordinary Muslims who believed they were donating to bona fide humanitarian causes. With the group wearing clothing and carrying collection buckets emblazoned with the logo of a genuine charity, Muslim Aid, which had been legitimately obtained when one of their number registered as a fundraiser, the donations were solicited from the local population door-to-door.