WhatsApp chat used to send cash for crime and extremism

A WhatsApp group chat was used to send hundreds of millions of euros in cash around the world, funding organised crime and extremism with no paper trail, an investigation by European broadcasters has found.

The 532-member group chat, called "Traders of Greater Europe", was used to arrange cash transfers across borders for their clients, including to British cities such as Birmingham and London.

In one case, payments from Brussels went to militants from the Islamic State group (IS) in Syria.

The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) investigative journalism network , external , which includes the BBC, also found wider evidence of similar cash transfer systems being used in people smuggling and drug trafficking.

The group chat, which contained more than 82,000 messages sent between late February and December 2022, was first uncovered by Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra. An investigating magistrate is a judge who examines evidence in complex cases before trial and makes a recommendation about whether they should proceed.

Guerra said the number of transactions was "staggering" and the network covered "the entire planet". The case began as an investigation into terror financing, but "it became just a drop in the ocean of transactions", he said.

Members of the group chat sent messages in Arabic to each other to set up cash payments using the ancient hawala transfer system. Hawala involves a network of trusted money brokers who can arrange for funds to be sent around the world without any electronic record or physical transport of bank notes.

The system involves an agreement between two brokers, known as hawaladars, in different locations. One of the hawaladars is paid a sum of cash and the other agrees to supply the same sum, minus commission, to the recipient. The hawaladars agree to settle up all their transactions between themselves at a later date.