A 42-year-old man was indicted for “terrorist criminal association” Thursday, October 13 in Paris and placed in pre-trial detention, franceinfo learned on Saturday from judicial sources and close to the case. Nicknamed “Abou Abeille” for his trade in honey enriched with aphrodisiac drugs, he is suspected of having traveled to Syria and of financing terrorism based on cryptocurrencies. Justice also suspects him of terrorist intentions on French soil.
According to a source close to the case at franceinfo, this suspect had been identified and located in Malaysia as part of an older and unpublished investigation by the General Directorate of Internal Security (DGSI) and the anti-terrorist sub-directorate ( SDAT) on a cryptocurrency financing network of terrorism in the Iraqi-Syrian region. Jonathan B., his real name, is suspected of having also participated from Malaysia.
Last September, “Abou Abeille” was expelled from this Southeast Asian country. He was taken into custody on Monday, October 10 by investigators from the anti-terrorist sub-directorate who suspect him, beyond the financing of terrorism, of having gone to Syria between 2013 and 2015. They have also questioned about a possible desire for an attack on French soil, which he had opened up to his entourage.
The original investigation had already resulted in several arrests three years ago. In September 2019, the national anti-terrorist prosecutor’s office effectively announced the arrest of 29 people. They were suspected of financing terrorism in the Iraqi-Syrian region with an innovative and much more opaque method than cash money orders, via bitcoin coupons.
At least 280,000 euros would have transited to Syria, according to the Pnat. These bitcoin coupons worth 10 to 150 euros were purchased in tobacconists in France, then sent by encrypted courier to Syria. Recipients then simply scanned the coupon QR codes before converting the cryptocurrency into cash at a local exchange office. In this case, two men have already been sentenced to four years in prison, including one and two years suspended, at the end of last September.
According to investigators, this terrorist financing network is led by Mesut Sekerci, 27, who left for Syria in 2013, a member of the terrorist group Hayat Tahrir-Al-Sham (HTS) and who is still there.