Investigation exposes WhatsApp group used to move criminal cash worldwide
A European broadcasters' investigation has uncovered a 532-member WhatsApp group used to move hundreds of millions of euros in cash globally, including funds linked to extremism and organised crime. The network relied on the ancient hawala transfer system, which leaves no paper trail.
An investigation by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU), whose members include the BBC, has uncovered a vast cash transfer network operating through a WhatsApp group chat called "Traders of Greater Europe". The group, with 532 members, was used to arrange cross-border cash payments for clients, including transfers to British cities such as Birmingham and London. In one instance, payments sent from Brussels reached Islamic State militants in Syria.
The chat, containing more than 82,000 messages sent between late February and December 2022, was first discovered by Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra. He described the volume of transactions as "staggering", noting the network spanned "the entire planet". What began as a terror-financing investigation turned out to be only a small fraction of a much larger flow of transactions.
Members communicated in Arabic to arrange payments through the hawala system, a trust-based network of money brokers that moves funds internationally without electronic records or physical cash transport. Two brokers in different locations agree that one receives a sum while the other pays an equivalent amount, minus commission, to the recipient, settling accounts between themselves later. While hawala is often used legitimately, such as by migrant workers sending money home, criminals exploit it to bypass banks' reporting requirements for suspicious transactions.
The group was reserved for transactions above €5,000. Hawala is illegal across most of the EU but legal in the UK provided brokers are registered with tax authorities.
The message archive was obtained by the EBU following a 2024 Belgian court case that convicted six money launderers, including Brussels network leader Abu Adam. After his arrest, police found the group chat on his phone, along with 6,000 photos of €5 note serial numbers and 6,000 photos of identity cards, suggesting at least 12,000 processed transactions.
The EBU also identified other European hawala networks tied to people smuggling and drug trafficking. In Austria, police raided what they called Vienna's biggest hawala office, run from a kebab restaurant and used to finance people smuggling. Two Syrian brothers behind the operation were convicted of human trafficking and torturing a courier.
