A 38-year-old San Diego man, Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi, has been charged with allegedly using social media and a charity to raise funds for humanitarian aid in Gaza as a cover to financially support Hamas, a U.S.-designated foreign terrorist organization, and to personally enrich himself, according to federal prosecutors. Sabassi was charged Tuesday in federal court in New York with five counts: conspiracy to provide material support to a terrorist organization, sanctions evasion, wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements in federal court.
He was arrested Tuesday in San Diego and made his initial appearance before a federal judge there. His defense attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.
According to prosecutors, following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which killed 1,200 Israelis and sparked a war that has killed over 73,000 Palestinians, Sabassi allegedly used social media, crowdfunding websites, and a charity to support Hamas. The complaint, filed Tuesday, states that Sabassi created and posted a video on social media in the months after the attack that supported the violent assault by Hamas against Israel.
Since at least 2022, Sabassi allegedly used his social media accounts and his charity, Ikram — The Arab Charity Foundation Inc., to solicit donations from people worldwide, including the United States, claiming the funds would go to humanitarian aid in Gaza. Prosecutors said that before naming the charity, Sabassi joked with an unnamed co-conspirator that it should be named after al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas.
Between December 2023 and February 2024, Sabassi raised approximately $600,000 through online fundraising campaigns. The complaint states that Ikram worked with Gaza Now, a website prosecutors say is a Hamas-affiliated company, to raise funds for shelter, food baskets, medical supplies, and other necessities for people in need.
However, prosecutors allege that Sabassi sent approximately $116,000 to a Hamas member and attempted to convert $382,000 in cash into cryptocurrency to send to Hamas. Gaza Now was sanctioned by the U.S.
Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control in 2024 for allegedly being a key facilitator in fundraising for Hamas. Prosecutors also said Sabassi sent $5,000 to a personal cryptocurrency account and about $6,000 to his personal bank account to pay off personal credit card debt.
Throughout the scheme, Sabassi was allegedly in contact with people associated with Hamas, sent messages calling for vengeance for Palestinians killed in the war, and posted online messages supporting Hamas.
“Hamas promotes attacks against the U.S. and has murdered dozens of Americans through acts of terror,” said U.S.
Attorney Jay Clayton in a statement Wednesday. “Our arrest of Reda Sabassi demonstrates our whole-of-government commitment to prosecute those who provide financial support to a malign terrorist regime that hates America.” The case was brought in the Southern District of New York, and Sabassi currently awaits extradition from San Diego.