FSB detains IS ‘fundraisers’ who amassed over $150,000 for terrorists

FSB

MOSCOW, November 8. /TASS/: The Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) has detained supporters of the international terrorist organization, the Islamic State (IS, outlawed in Russia), that had collected at least 10 million rubles ($157,000) for the terrorists, in the Dagestan Region, the FSB Center for Public Relations (CPR) told TASS.

"The Federal Security Service in cooperation with the Investigative Committee, the Russian Interior Ministry and the Federal Service for Financial Monitoring have foiled the activity of an underground cell in the Dagestan Region that collected and transferred money for the needs of the international terrorist organization, the Islamic State," the CPR reported. According to the FSB, "they had amassed at least 10 million rubles."

"According to the assignment of these agents, members of the radical cell from among the region’s residents organized resource support for the activities of the international terrorist organization, and for that purpose they collected at least 10 million rubles," the center explained. The funds were collected by way of transfers through payment systems and bank cards, and were channeled to terrorist-controlled areas in Syria.

Two members of the criminal gang were detained, and payment instruments, means of communication and fiscal receipts were confiscated along with other documents that prove their criminal activity. Those taken into custody have provided testimony to bankrolling the Islamic State, the FSB reported.