PakAmerican woman used bitcoin to fund IS

Pakistani-born New York woman has acknowledged her role in defrauding numerous financial institutions in a bitcoin scheme to help the Islamic State group.

Prosecutors said Zoobia Shahnaz, a naturalized US citizen living on Long Island, pleaded guilty in federal court in Central Islip on Monday to providing material support to a foreign terrorist organisation.

The 27-year-old was charged with laundering bitcoin and wiring money to the Islamic State group. After quitting her job, she was stopped at Kennedy Airport last year attempting to fly to Pakistan.

Shahnaz’s lawyer has said she was trying to help Syrian refugees. She faces up to 20 years in prison.

In an agreement with prosecutors, she admitted to committing credit card and loan fraud to raise money that she converted to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies to send to the Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS), which is designated as a terrorist organisation by the US government, law enforcement officials said.

Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies are virtual computer-generated currencies that are difficult for governments to monitor and can be exchanged for cash beyond borders.

“In the interest of empowering and enriching a terrorist organisation whose aim is to harm America, Zoobia Shahnaz turned her back on her country and her fellow citizens,” said William Sweeney, the FBI assistant director-in-charge.