UNITED KINGDOM — The U.S. Department of Justice charged Mohammad Yousef Hasna with conspiring to provide material support for Hamas, conspiring to finance terrorism, and financing terrorism. The Turkish national, also known as "Orhan Korkmaz" and "Abu al-Baraa," was arrested in the United Kingdom and ordered detained pending extradition to the United States.

According to the DOJ complaint, Mohammad Yousef Hasna provided financing and commodities to Hamas through a sham charity while allegedly acting as the global director of a registered charity in the United Kingdom. UK law enforcement and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) aided the investigation leading to his arrest in the high-income economy located in Europe and Central Asia with its capital in London.

Since at least 2023, Mohammad Yousef Hasna coordinated with Ghazi Hamad to arrange cash deliveries, procure supplies for transport into the Gaza Strip, transport materials into Gaza from Egypt, and distribute supplies to warehouses controlled by the sham charity and Hamas. He worked closely with the senior Hamas official to manage these logistical operations over a two-year period spanning 2023 to 2025.

To obscure the destination of the aid, Mohammad Yousef Hasna and Hamas concealed the location and control of delivered materials by taking pictures and videos of supplies that omitted warehouse signage. This method allowed them to present the transfers as legitimate humanitarian efforts while directing resources to the militant group.

"The accused allegedly used a purported humanitarian aid organization to raise funds and provide financing and supplies to Hamas, a ruthless international terrorist organization," FBI Counterterrorism Division Assistant Director Jarod Brown said. Brown added that Hasna acted with full awareness of the recipient's identity.

"In Hasna’s coordination with Hamas, he knew the resources were going to that group rather than to needy non-combatants," he said. The complaint outlines how the charitable facade masked the transfer of funds and goods to a designated terrorist organization.

Financial disclosures filed with UK authorities show a sharp increase in the charity's reported activity during this period. The sham charity disclosed a gross income of $41.8 million to UK authorities in 2023. That figure rose to approximately $81.56 million in 2024, representing a 95.1% increase from the previous year.

US National Security Assistant Attorney-General John Eisenberg addressed the broader implications of such financial networks in a statement. "The money that flows from sham charities like the one described in the complaint fuels Hamas’s terrorist activities, including the atrocities the group committed on October 7," Eisenberg said.

He emphasized the strategic necessity of disrupting these funding channels to degrade the group's operational capabilities. "Hamas cannot function without injections of money through its illicit financial networks," he said. Each charge against Mohammad Yousef Hasna carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in prison.

This case shows the use of registered non-profit entities in high-income economies to facilitate illicit financing for designated terrorist organizations. The involvement of UK law enforcement and the Shin Bet demonstrates international coordination in tracking cross-border financial flows that support militant activities in conflict zones.

The substantial increase in reported income and spending by the charity, rising from $41.8 million to $91 million over two years, reflects the scale of resources allegedly mobilized under the guise of humanitarian aid. Prosecutors argue that dismantling these networks is essential to preventing the funding of violent acts, such as those committed on October 7.