A Maryland man has been charged with accepting money he believed was from an ISIS supporter overseas for "operational purposes" in the U.S.
The Justice Department disclosed Monday that Mohamed Elshinawy, 30, of Edgewood, Maryland, was arrested on Friday and charged with providing material support to a terrorist organization.
“Mohamed Elshinawy received money he believed was provided by ISIL in order to conduct an attack on U.S. soil,” said assistant attorney general John Carlin, using the term the federal government employs to refer to ISIS. “When confronted by the FBI, he lied in order to conceal his support for ISIL and the steps he took to provide material support to the deadly foreign terrorist organization."
According to court documents, the FBI discovered in June that a person in Egypt was trying to send money to the U.S. for potentially criminal purposes. Investigators say that person began sending money to Elsinaway on June 28. In all, prosecutors say, he received at least $8,700 from sources he believed were associated with ISIS.
The documents say he pledged his support to ISIS in February and said his "soul was over there with the jihadists." In May, the FBI says, he told his brother that he wanted to die as a martyr for ISIS.
The FBI says agents interviewed him in July. After first concealing the source of the money, prosecutors say, he revealed that a childhood friend connected him with an unidentified ISIS member. But he told the FBI he never intended to carry out an attack was just only trying to get money from ISIS.
Prosecutors do not allege in the charging documents that he plotted any attacks in the U.S.
