WASHINGTON—Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) designated three individuals and six entities across Europe, the Middle East, and West Africa for facilitating financial transactions on behalf of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS). This action targets key facilitators who enable ISIS to move funds among its regional affiliates and in so doing helps protect the rights of religious minorities who have been targeted by ISIS and ISIS-inspired violence. Regardless of the financial instrument, method of transmission, or location of the funds, the Treasury Department will relentlessly pursue ISIS’s finances and disrupt their ability to harm Americans.
“ISIS continues to seek new methods and tools to finance terrorist attacks,” said Secretary of the Treasury Scott Bessent. “The United States will leverage every tool at its disposal to crush ISIS’s remaining capabilities and protect American lives.”
Today’s action is being taken pursuant to the counterterrorism authority, Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended. The U.S. Department of State designated ISIS, then known by its former name of Al-Qa’ida in Iraq, as a Specially Designated Global Terrorist pursuant to E.O. 13224 on October 15, 2004, and as a Foreign Terrorist Organization pursuant to section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act on December 17, 2004.
ISIS Transregional facilitators
ISIS relies on a wide network of financial facilitators that enables the group’s operations. As outlined in Treasury’s 2026 National Terrorist Financing Risk Assessment, as well as the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network’s April 2025 Advisory on the Financing of ISIS and its Global Affiliates, sustained counterterrorism pressure has forced ISIS to become much more decentralized and reliant on more autonomous cells and affiliates throughout the world. Financial facilitators provide critical connectivity between these nodes and ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces, which provides operational guidance and funding to ISIS regional offices.
On May 16, 2026, President Trump announced the killing of Abu-Bilal al-Minuki (al-Minuki) in a coordinated effort involving the United States Department of War and the Government of Nigeria. Al-Minuki, designated by the U.S. Department of State on June 8, 2023 pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, was the number two official in ISIS and led ISIS’s General Directorate of Provinces. ISIS-linked financial facilitators will also be held accountable. Whether individuals are knowingly supporting ISIS, or because of compliance system failures, providing critical financial connectivity to ISIS exposes individuals and firms to the full breadth of Treasury’s authorities.
Miloud Abderrahmane (Abderrahmane), based in France, Abdelhakim Boukich (Boukich), based in Syria, and Mohamad Alhmidan (Alhmidan), previously designated by OFAC in March 2016, are three such individuals that have facilitated transactions for ISIS. Abderrahmane, a French-national, has conducted transactions with known ISIS-affiliates, including some who were based in Syria. He has also provided instructional and manufacturing information on explosives to ISIS supporters.
Boukich, formerly a Dutch national and an extremist financial facilitator, controls and directs Bitcoin Xchange, a Syria-based money service business (MSB). Bitcoin Xchange was established in late 2020 by Boukich and his Syria-based associates. Boukich and Bitcoin Xchange have transferred money on behalf of ISIS associates originating from multiple countries, including Norway, Belgium, the Netherlands, South Africa, and the United States.
Alhmidan, an individual sanctioned in 2016 for facilitating logistical and financial support for ISIS, as well as helping support foreign terrorist fighters, also owns and controls Spider Gayrimenkul Ve Genel Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Spider), a Turkiye-based MSB. Alkaram Danismanlik Gayrimenkul Ic Ve Dis Genel Ticaret Limited Sirketi (Alkaram), also a Turkiye-based MSB, further does business as, and operates on behalf of Spider. Originating as a hawala that operated in Syria, Spider was used to transfer money from parts of Syria under ISIS control to other regions not controlled by ISIS.
Abderrahmane, Boukich, Bitcoin Xchange, Spider, and Alkaram are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of, ISIS.
ISIS in WEST AFRICA
As demonstrated by the May 16, 2026 killing of al-Minuki, the United States and Nigeria stand together in relentlessly pursuing and eliminating ISIS. This includes cooperation in countering the financing of terrorism and protecting the rights of religious minorities. Nigeria-based Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad (Muhammad) is an ISIS in West Africa (ISIS-WA) financial facilitator that has conducted money transfers on behalf of ISIS-WA. Nine to Nine Exchange Bureau de Change Limited (Nine Exchange), Manhattan Bureau de Change Limited (Manhattan Bureau), and Generation Currency Bureau de Change Limited (Generation Currency) are Nigeria-based MSBs that are owned, controlled, or directed by Muhammad.
Muhammad is being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for having materially assisted, sponsored, or provided financial, material, or technological support for, or goods and services to or in support of, ISIS-WA.
Nine Exchange, Manhattan Bureau, and Generation Currency are being designated pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended, for being owned, controlled, or directed by, or having acted or purported to act on behalf of, directly or indirectly, Mukhtar Adamu Muhammad.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of today’s action, all property and interests in property of the designated or blocked persons described above that are in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons are blocked and must be reported to OFAC. In addition, any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, individually or in the aggregate, 50 percent or more by one or more blocked persons are also blocked. Unless authorized by OFAC, or exempt, OFAC’s regulations generally prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within (or transiting) the United States that involve any property or interests in property of blocked persons.
Violations of U.S. sanctions may result in the imposition of civil or criminal penalties on U.S. and foreign persons. OFAC may impose civil penalties for sanctions violations on a strict liability basis. OFAC’s Economic Sanctions Enforcement Guidelines provide more information regarding OFAC’s enforcement of U.S. economic sanctions. In addition, financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons. The prohibitions include the making of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services by, to, or for the benefit of any designated or blocked person, or the receipt of any contribution or provision of funds, goods, or services from any such person. Non-U.S. persons are also prohibited from causing or conspiring to cause U.S. persons to wittingly or unwittingly violate U.S. sanctions, as well as engaging in conduct that evades U.S. sanctions. Individuals located in the U.S. or abroad who provide information about sanctions violations to FinCEN’s whistleblower incentive program may be eligible for awards if the information they provide leads to a successful enforcement action that results in monetary penalties exceeding $1,000,000.
Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions involving the persons designated today may risk the imposition of secondary sanctions on participating foreign financial institutions. OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on opening or maintaining, in the United States, a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial institution that knowingly conducts or facilitates any significant transaction on behalf of a person who is designated pursuant to the relevant authority.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from OFAC’s ability to designate and add persons to the SDN List, but also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish, but to bring about a positive change in behavior. For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the SDN List, or to submit a request, please refer to OFAC’s guidance on Filing a Petition for Removal from an OFAC List.
Click here for more information on the persons designated today.
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