USA v. Abusaad, Alaa Mohd
Birmingham, AL

Al Qaida

[NDAL] Alaa Mohd Abusaad was charged in Birmingham, Alabama with attempting to provide material support and resources to al Qaeda. Abusaad instructed an FBI undercover employee (UCE) about how to send money to the mujahedeen. Abusaad told the UCE that money "is always needed. You can't have a war without weapons. You can't prepare a soldier without equipment." Abusaad also advised the UCE on how to send money in a manner that would avoid detection by law enforcement, including by using fake names and addresses when conducting electronic money transfers. Subsequently, Abusaad introduced the UCE to a financial facilitator who could route the UCE's money to "brothers that work with aq" (meaning al Qaeda). Abusaad was sentenced in April 2022 to 90 months, the equivalent of seven and a half years, in prison followed by 10 years of supervised release for concealing the transmission of funds to be provided as material support to al-Qaeda.