South Korea Arrests Four Over Crypto Payments to Syrian Terror Group
South Korean police charged four Uzbek nationals with financing terrorism in what they say is the first case involving cryptocurrency sent from a designated terrorist group and converted into physical goods. Police arrested them in April under the Act on Prohibition Against the Financing of Terrorism. The alleged leader has been indicted, detained, and is on trial; the other three are under investigation. One suspect was wanted on an Interpol Red Notice. Investigators say that between August 2024 and April 2025, the leader sent 4,267 USDT in seven transfers to Katibat Tawhid wal Jihad, a Syria-based group designated as a terrorist organization by the UN and U.S. He is accused of using crypto received from the group to buy 11 used cars and two excavators worth about 170 million won, which were then shipped to Syria. Police say the others helped purchase and export the vehicles. The leader denied the charges at his first hearing.
