Saturday, September 10, 2016

Two ISIS sympathisers who sold a BMW and jewellery to raise £10,000 to fund their brother fighting for the terror group in Syria

  • Mohammed Hussain and Mohammed Rohaman sent cash to Lebanon 
  • The money was destined for Musadikur Rohaman who is in Raqqa, Syria 
  • Rohaman fled to Syria along with his wife after their young son had died 
  • The gang have been jailed  for terms ranging from 18 months to four years
Two ISIS sympathisers who sold a BMW and jewellery to raise £10,000 to fund their brother fighting for the terror group in Syria have been jailed.

Mohammed Hussain, 26, and Mohammed Rohaman, 33, sent the cash to Musadikur Rohaman, 27, who travelled to the war-torn country in December 2014 with his 27-year-old wife Zohura Siddeka.

The brothers recruited family friend Mohammed Khan, 27, who worked in a Tesco warehouse, to help.


Mohammed Hussain, left, and Mohammed Rohaman, right, were both jailed at the Old Bailey for their part in trying to raise funds of Musadikur Rohaman who ran away to join ISIS in Syria

The gang, two of whom who worked at this dry cleaners in Walsall in the West Midlands, raised funds which they sent by Western Union to the Middle East in order to fund Musadikur's jihad
The gang, two of whom who worked at this dry cleaners in Walsall in the West Midlands, raised funds which they sent by Western Union to the Middle East in order to fund Musadikur's jihad

The court heard the cash was sent to Rohaman, who is believed to be in Raqqa, out of 'misguided loyalty'.  
They sent funds to the couple in Syria from a Western Union bank next door to the family launderette in Walsall in the West Midlands.

To raise money, they sold Musadikur's BMW for £4,000 and made £1,500 from selling gold that belonged to the couple.

The trio, all from Walsall, also tried to sell a wedding dress and watch on eBay, but were unsuccessful.

The gang enlisted Mohammed Khan, pictured, who attempted to take out credit cards on behalf of Musadikur Rohaman
The gang enlisted Mohammed Khan, pictured, who attempted to take out credit cards on behalf of Musadikur Rohaman
Last month, all three were found guilty of funding terrorism.

Khan, the court heard, applied for credit cards to provide money for Musadikur. 

A fourth man, Maruf Uddin, 26, was acquitted of entering into a funding arrangement.  

The court heard Musadikur had worked at the family laundrette in Walsall, Birmingham, before heading off for a week's holiday to Turkey with his wife in December 2014.

The couple's son had died at just a few months old the previous September, and they told their relatives they needed a holiday to get over their grief.

But the family did not hear from him again until late January 2015 when he got in touch via Whatsapp.

Older sister Nargis Ali, 42, told him: 'Please, please don't do anything stupid and go fighting'.

When he replied 'Lol Mez, at least use code words', she responded: 'Don't 'lol' me young man, there's nowhere to hide from us [the family] no point using codes.'

Hussain, who became the boss of the family dry cleaning business after his father's death, supported ISIS and had even considered travelling to Syria himself, the court heard.

He asked his fiancé if she would go with him to Syria once they were married, telling her that travelling to the caliphate would be rewarded with 'the wiping of all sins'.


Musadikur Rohaman, 27,travelled to Syria in December 2014 with his 27-year-old wife Zohura Siddeka, right, after claiming they were going on a short holiday to Turkey 

Nigel Lambert QC, for Hussain, said he only sent money on one occasion, and did not send any of his own cash, only that of his brother.

'His plans to become a solicitor have been dashed, I expect for ever, and any plans to marry have to be put on hold.

'This all came about because of a misguided loyalty to and under the instruction of his older brother at a time when his brother was in a state of emotional turmoil after the loss of his father and the loss of his baby son.

'Coupled with that there's the string cultural element within the family to the effect that if your brother asks you to do something, with in reason, you do it.

'Now that brother recognises, as all the family knew he would, the appalling decision he's made and has made efforts to return home with his wife and his new baby.'

Hussain was jailed for four years, Rohaman was imprisoned for two years and nine months, and Khan was handed an 18-month sentence at the Old Bailey.

In March last year, a total of £10,000 was sent via Lebanon, including maternity payments Siddeka was still receiving from her job as a teaching assistant.

The sum also consisted of proceeds from the sale of the BMW, and money from the couple's bank accounts after they sent across their details.

Musadikur Rohaman and his wife had travelled to Syria via Turkey with Abul Hasan, also from Walsall, who is believed to have been killed.

While they were in the Middle East, Rohaman kept in touch with his family in the UK online, including through Skype.

In one message he said: 'Unlikely you will see me again, hope you are all praying for us. It's amazing over on this side of the world.'

And in another he warned them, 'at least use code words', after a sister pleaded with him not to fight in Syria.

Sentencing the trio, Judge Mark Lucraft QC said: 'In my view, it would have been obvious to each of you that Musadikur and Siddeka were in Syria, and they were there in support of the so-called Islamic State.

'We are all only too well aware of the many terrorist atrocities carried out by those said to be fighting for the so-called Islamic State.

'Whilst the trial was ongoing, there were a number of incidents going on around the world.

'Any form of support, financial or otherwise, fuels that fight and encourages those engaged to carry out atrocities.'

An investigation was launched into the trio following a probe into another terror cell in Walsall.

The gang used a Western Union agent near their dry cleaners to send over the illicit cash 
The gang used a Western Union agent near their dry cleaners to send over the illicit cash 

Police searched Hussain and Rohaman's home last June, following the disappearance of their brother and sister-in-law.

They found he was fighting in Syria, and that his two brothers knew what he was doing.

Hussain was found guilty last month of five counts of funding terrorism under the Terrorism Act 2000, and Rohaman was convicted of one count.

Khan was convicted of two counts of funding terrorism.

Hussain was jailed for four years, while his brother Rohaman was jailed for two years and nine months.

Khan was handed 18 months for his role in helping the brothers apply for credit cards for Musadikur 

In mitigation, Nigel Lambert QC, defending Hussain, said: 'This is a decent, hard working and very close family, now fractured, ruptured and devastated by all that has happened.

'Thy spoke of his commitment to, and his love for, his friends, family and community - the community here in the UK, and nothing about this trial has changed that.

'When his brother left on holiday for Istanbul, Mr Hussain, like the rest of his family, had no idea that his plan was then to go to Syria.

'Mr Hussain himself had no time for, or any interest in, terrorism. And this has wholly come about because of his brother.'

Richard Thomas, defending Khan, said: 'Certainly he has been reckless. He has also been extremely fortunate, fortunate because on this occasion his recklessness did not cause any harm.

'This arose because of a request from someone he had grown up with, a family he had grown up with.

'This has been a huge blow, these proceedings, for a man of good character, a man who plainly has no sympathy for terrorism, who plainly the ideas of ISIS are anathema to his own existence.' 


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