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Prosecutors allege long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas

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Cite

Dienst, J. (2026, October 2). Prosecutors allege long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas. NBC News. https://www.nbcnews.com/news/crime-courts/brothers-arrested-long-running-scheme-raise-money-hamas-rcna600996

Dated when The Aporia collected the article, usually within hours of publication. Check the original for its exact date and byline.

NBC News · collected 2026-10-02 · by Jonathan Dienst

Quick Summary

Saleem Alzaq, a purported media representative for Hamas based in Gaza, has been indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on charges of money laundering and violating sanctions for allegedly raising $1.7 million from U.S. donors through false humanitarian appeals. Two brothers, Abdel Adhami and Omar Adhami from Louisiana, were also charged with material support to a foreign terrorist organization, wire fraud, and money laundering as part of the same scheme. Abdel Adhami used social media platforms like Snapchat and Instagram between 2021 and November 2025 to raise funds that he then sent to Alzaq through PayPal accounts. NYPD’s counterterrorism unit played a crucial role in uncovering this international finance network.
Written by AI on 2026-10-02, from this article's own text only (the story summary below draws on all the coverage).

AI analysis

Story summary

Saleem Alzaq, a 45-year-old alleged Hamas member from Gaza, was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York on charges related to funneling $1.7 million to Hamas under the guise of humanitarian aid for Palestinians in Gaza between January 2020 and December 2025. The indictment alleges that Alzaq and his co-conspirators raised funds internationally, including at least $626,000 from U.S.-based donors, by soliciting donations through social media campaigns purportedly aimed at providing food and winter necessities.

Two brothers from Louisiana, Abdel Adhami and Omar Adhami, were arrested last month for their roles in the scheme. Abdel is accused of sending over $83,000 to Hamas between 2023 and 2026 while Omar allegedly sent $6,000. The brothers are charged with material support to a foreign terrorist organization, conspiracy to violate sanctions, money laundering, and defrauding the United States.

The NYPD assisted in bringing down the operation after an undercover detective contacted Alzaq on social media. Additionally, three individuals from France were arrested for helping collect and transfer funds through purported charitable campaigns. French authorities also sanctioned two charities allegedly tied to Hamas financing, while the U.S. Treasury Department imposed sanctions against Saleem Alzaq and others involved in the network.

Written for “Hamas Fundraising Scheme Exposed” on 2026-11-04, grounded in this article and the 6 other(s) covering the same event.

Story

📰 Hamas Fundraising Scheme Exposed
Politics · 7 article(s) covering the same event. Compare every outlet's account →

Compared with similar articles

This article reads unscored and hedges 40% of its claims. Each row says how that neighbour differs.
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⚖️ Leans right Hedges 12 of 23 claims Outlet record 65/100
Leader of $1.7M Hamas fundraising scheme bragged about ‘friends’ in NY: feds Same event
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⚖️ Leans strongly right Hedges 8 of 18 claims Outlet record 66/100
Two US brothers busted in $1.7M Hamas fundraising scheme — that was exposed with help from the NYPD Same event
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⚖️ Leans right Hedges 5 of 17 claims Outlet record 66/100
Americans donated money to Hamas in scheme that raised $1.7 million, prosecutors allege Same event
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⚖️ Centre Hedges 0 of 2 claims Outlet record 65/100
US sanctions three individuals and two charities over alleged Hamas financing Same event
The Guardian
Hedges 5 of 23 claims Outlet record 66/100
Man helped raise $1.7 million for Hamas funding scheme disguised as Gaza aid: DOJ Different event
Washington Examiner
Hedges 9 of 30 claims Outlet record 69/100
“The articles describe different individuals being charged in relation to a larger Hamas funding scheme, with Article A focusing on Saleem Alzaq and Article B highlighting Raed Yousef.”
How this article was measured signals, leaning charts, publisher record, byline, topics and claims

Signals How these are calculated →

Claims extracted
20
sentences that state something as happening or true
Uncertain
40%
8 of 20 hedged ("reportedly", "may", "according to")
Leaning
not political
takes no side on a contested political question
Publisher signals
78/100
NBC News's corrections and hedging, across everything collected from it. Not a measure of accuracy.
Outlets on this story
7
Politics
Same framing elsewhere
1
articles that frame the event the way this one does
Analyzed 2026-10-02 · how these are computed

How this is being covered How these are calculated →

Article leaning vs. publisher reliability
Source leaning vs. consistency

Publisher

NBC News · 2116 article(s) · 2 correction(s) detected
Running correction rate · 2 correction(s)
2026-11-03
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2026-10-29
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Who wrote this

Jonathan Dienst
3 article(s) here · 0 carrying a prediction
🔮 That person was expected to survive.
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Nothing else under this byline is closely related to this article, so these are simply their most recent.

Topics

Gaza Hamas Louisiana NYPD U.S.

Subjects

Abdel Adhami PERSON · 8× Alzaq PERSON · 5× Gaza GPE · 5× Hamas ORG · 3× NYPD ORG · 3× Omar Adhami PERSON · 3× Louisiana GPE · 2× PayPal ORG · 2× Snapchat ORG · 2× U.S. GPE · 2×

Narrative

Two brothers in the U.S. were also charged in connection with the long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas, by disseminating propaganda and soliciting donations for “the poor and orphans in Gaza” via social media, court records show.
framing: mixed · carried by 1 article(s) · first seen 2026-10-02
2026-10-02 · NBC News
Prosecutors allege long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas · mixed framing

Claims (20 extracted, 8 hedged)

A purported media representative for Hamas has been accused of funneling roughly $1.7 million to the terrorist organization from donors in the U.S. and elsewhere who believed they were giving humanitarian aid to Gaza, according to a federal indictment unsealed Thursday. uncertain
they → accuse → indictment
Saleem Alzaq was indicted by a federal grand jury in New York and was charged with money laundering and violating sanctions, according to the charging document. uncertain
Alzaq → indict → document
He was believed to be in Gaza. asserted
He → believe → Gaza
Two brothers in the U.S. were also charged in connection with the long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas, by disseminating propaganda and soliciting donations for “the poor and orphans in Gaza” via social media, court records show. asserted
records → charge → media
Abdel Adhami and Omar Adhami were arrested last month in Louisiana, but the details of their charges were unsealed only after they made their first court appearances, court dockets show. asserted
dockets → arrest → appearances
Abdel Adhami faces charges of material support to a foreign terrorist organization, wire fraud and money laundering, according to a complaint filed on Sept. 11 in the Eastern District of Louisiana. uncertain
Adhami → face → Louisiana
Meanwhile, his brother Omar Adhami is also charged with material support and wire fraud charges, according to his complaint. uncertain
brother → charge → complaint
An attorney for the brothers didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. asserted
attorney → return → comment
They were detained pending a detention hearing and have not yet entered a plea. asserted
They → detain → plea
From 2021 to November 2025, Abdel Adhami used various Snapchat accounts to post Hamas propaganda and raise money for the terrorist organization after referring social media followers to his Telegram account, according to his criminal complaint. uncertain
Adhami → use → complaint
Abdel Adhami also allegedly solicited money for Gaza through Instagram. uncertain
Adhami → solicit → Instagram
All told, from Nov. 4, 2023, to June 2025, Abdel Adhami sent almost $35,000 to one PayPal account and $46,600 to another PayPal account, the complaint states. asserted
complaint → tell → account
The money was funneled to Alzaq, according to the complaint. uncertain
money → funnel → complaint
Investigators were able to identify Abdel Adhami as the source of those funds last year, after an NYPD online covert officer reached out to Alzaq. asserted
officer → identify → Alzaq
Alzaq, in turn, unwittingly referred the covert NYPD officer back to Abdel Adhami, the complaint states. asserted
complaint → refer → Adhami
“This is the message I wanted to deliver to the person who donated the bread,” Alzaq said around Jan. 28, 2024, in a voice message to a Snapchat account controlled by Abdel Adhami, according to the court papers. uncertain
Alzaq → want → papers
“Some of them received the bread, thanks be to God.” asserted
thanks → receive → God
In his complaint, investigators said Omar Adhami also sent Alzaq some $3,000 and on one occasion requested “to have a sheep or goat slaughtered for the needy and poor in Gaza.” asserted
sheep → say → Gaza
New York Police Department Commissioner Jessica Tisch said Thursday in a statement that the NYPD’s “counterterrorism work knows no borders. asserted
work → say → borders
Our intelligence analysts uncovered this international finance network and built the case.” asserted
analysts → uncover → case
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