As the agencies intensified the scrutiny of banking and online payments in the digital age, criminals have also digitised the age-old method of money laundering and hawala. An investigative report by the European Broadcasters Union (EBU) has uncovered one such international network, which was coordinating cash transactions between various European cities via WhatsApp.
The WhatsApp group, called "Traders of Greater Europe," had 532 members. The network was also being used for suspected financial transactions linked to human trafficking and terrorism.
According to the BBC, during the investigation, Belgian authorities found more than 82,000 WhatsApp messages from this group between February and December 2022.
The messages contained instructions in Arabic for the delivery and collection of funds between hawala operators. According to Belgian Investigating Magistrate Vincent Guerra, the network uncovered by the investigation could be much larger, and the information obtained by police represents only a fraction of the total network.
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Hawala involves a network of trust-based intermediaries rather than banking channels. This is why this method has been used for both legitimate money transfers and criminal activities.
According to investigating agencies, WhatsApp served as a digital communication medium for the hawala operators in this case. During an investigation in Belgium in 2024, the alleged network leader, Abu Adam, and his associate, Abu Ahmed, were arrested. Nearly 6,000 images of five-euro notes and an equal number of identity cards were recovered from Abu Adam's phone.
The serial numbers on the notes were used as codes to identify transactions. This led investigators to a large number of potential transactions. The report also stated that hawala transactions linked to the network were used to transfer money to the families of ISIS affiliates held in Syrian detention camps and to facilitate the release of some women.
Hawala business was going on behind the kebab restaurant
Investigators in Austria found another base for a hawala network at a kebab restaurant in Vienna. Two Syrian brothers who ran the restaurant were charged with human trafficking.
The investigation also revealed that threats and torture were used to extort money from those involved in the network. The information from the Austrian police and Europol suggests another criminal network received payments for the illegal smuggling of large numbers of migrants to Europe through hawala. In some cases, it was also revealed that traffickers sent videos of the torture to their families and demanded ransom.