United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, Jamie McDonald, announced on July 31 the unsealing of a three-count complaint charging Mohammad Yousef Hasna, also known as Orhan Korkmaz and Abu al-Baraa, with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas and related terrorism financing charges. Hasna, a Turkish resident and global director of an international charity registered in the United Kingdom referred to as the “Sham Charity,” was arrested in the United Kingdom and ordered detained pending extradition proceedings.
“Mohammad Hasna is alleged to have abused his position as the global director of a purported humanitarian organization to raise money and provide funds and supplies to Hamas, a brutal terrorist organization responsible for the murders of dozens of Americans and over a thousand other innocent victims, including as part of the heinous atrocities of October 7,” said U.S. Attorney Jamie McDonald. “Hasna worked closely with Hamas’s senior leadership to deliver supplies, food, funding, and other materials to terrorists under the guise of humanitarian aid. Our arrest of Mohammad Hasna demonstrates our commitment to dismantling Hamas’s illicit global financing networks and the sham charities that support terrorist organizations and their violent aims using the lie of philanthropy.”
Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said, “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. Hamas cannot function without injections of money through its illicit financial networks. The National Security Division will continue to work tirelessly to disrupt Hamas’s operations, including through prosecutions such as this.” FBI Counterterrorism Division Assistant Director Jarod Brown said, “The accused allegedly used a purported humanitarian aid organization to raise funds and provide financing and supplies to Hamas… The FBI is committed to cutting off funding and other assistance to terrorist organizations…”
According to allegations in the complaint, Hasna coordinated directly with senior members of Hamas—including Ghazi Hamad—regarding delivery of funds and supplies into Gaza at their instruction. Since at least 2023, Hasna allegedly arranged deliveries by truck from Egypt or elsewhere into Gaza; cash transfers; storage at warehouses controlled by either his charity or agencies directed by Hamad; concealment measures such as misrepresenting recipients; redistribution according to lists provided by Hamad; and taking photos omitting warehouse signage.
Hamas has been designated by U.S. authorities as a foreign terrorist organization since 1997. On October 7, 2023, more than two thousand armed fighters entered southern Israel resulting in over one thousand deaths and kidnappings attributed by authorities in this case directly or indirectly supported through financial flows investigated here.
Hasna faces charges each carrying up to twenty years’ imprisonment if convicted; any sentencing would be determined by a judge following conviction on any count charged here. Prosecutors emphasized that all charges remain allegations until proven guilty.