U.S. Treasury sanctions Hamas financing network tied to Muslim Brotherhood affiliates

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U.S. sanctions Hamas financing network

Highlights

OFAC sanctioned four individuals, including senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood official Mahmoud al-Abyari, and three entities for providing material support to Hamas, targeting sham charities and trading firms.
The action blocks all U.S.-controlled property of designated persons and entities, exposing a transnational fundraising network that moves funds for Hamas using charitable fronts and informal banking.
Sanctions expand compliance risks for banks and financial intermediaries globally, with potential penalties for violations and secondary sanctions for facilitating transactions involving designated persons.

OFAC action targets charities and trading network

As reported by U.S. Department of the Treasury, citing the Office of Foreign Assets Control, or OFAC, the agency designates a senior Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood official, three other individuals and three entities for providing material support to Hamas. The agency says two of the entities operated as sham charities tied to the Muslim Brotherhood and funneled substantial funding to Hamas’s military wing.

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent says the administration will continue pursuing terrorists and their financiers, including those operating through charities, businesses and underground financial networks. Treasury says the designations expose a transnational fundraising structure that uses charitable fronts and informal banking channels to move and conceal funds across jurisdictions.

The sanctions are issued under Executive Order 13224, as amended, which is the United States’ core counterterrorism sanctions authority. Treasury says the move builds on earlier OFAC actions announced on March 12, 2026 and January 21, 2026, and reflects coordination with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration and Customs and Border Protection.

Among those named, Mahmoud al-Abyari, a UK-based senior leader of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood, is designated for acting for or on behalf of the group. OFAC also names Indonesia-based Tujah Bulah Global, Gaza-based Madad Palestine Charitable Society, and Türkiye-based El-Kahira for General Trading, alongside Khuldun Khamis Zakaria Alden, Zaid Issam Ahmed Al-Jebouri and Abdullah Issam Ahmad Al-Jebouri.

Sanctions raise compliance risks for banks and businesses

The Treasury action blocks all property and interests in property of the designated persons that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons, and such holdings must be reported to OFAC. Entities owned 50% or more, directly or indirectly, by one or more blocked persons are also blocked.

Unless exempt or authorized by OFAC, U.S. regulations generally prohibit transactions by U.S. persons, or within or transiting the United States, involving blocked property. Treasury says violations can lead to civil or criminal penalties, while foreign financial institutions that knowingly facilitate significant transactions for designated persons may also face secondary sanctions affecting correspondent or payable-through accounts in the United States.

The measures widen compliance risks for banks, charities, trading firms and cross-border payment intermediaries dealing in both fiat currency and cryptocurrencies. Treasury says sanctions are intended to change behavior rather than simply punish, while also warning that non-U.S. persons can be penalized for causing U.S. sanctions violations or helping evade restrictions.

Our earlier report on HMRC’s crypto tax enforcement detailed how the UK tax authority recovered more than £8 million from 502 investors through disclosure settlements, alongside a sharp rise in “nudge letters” warning of suspected underreporting. It also highlighted how tougher reporting rules and broader data collection by crypto service providers from January 2026 are making it harder to conceal taxable activity, increasing compliance pressure across the digital-asset ecosystem.

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