2 convicted of terrorism financing offences in past year

Singapore takes a firm stance against terrorism financing-related activities, and in the past year, two individuals have been convicted of such offences.

The Internal Security Department (ISD) said yesterday that this brings the total number of people who have been convicted of terrorism financing to 13 since laws criminalising it were introduced.

The Terrorism (Suppression of Financing) Act, which criminalises the act of providing money for terrorist purposes regardless of the amount involved, was introduced in 2002.

In the first of the two recent cases, Singaporean businessman Mohamed Kazali Salleh gave a Malaysian man more than $1,000 in 2013 and 2014 to facilitate the latter's journey to Syria to become a fighter for the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria.

In September last year, Kazali was sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison for his terrorism financing offences.

In the second case, Bangladeshi Ahmed Faysal made fund transfers between February and October 2020 totalling about $900 via online platforms which he knew would benefit the terrorist entity Hayat Tahrir al-Sham in Syria.

He was sentenced to two years and eight months in jail for his terrorism financing offences in February this year.

ISD said that of the 13 people who have been convicted under the Act since 2002, three were Singaporeans and 10 were foreigners.