Encrypted WhatsApp groups have become a critical tool for criminal organizations to move millions of dollars in cash globally, facilitating activities ranging from human trafficking to funding extremism, an investigation by the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) has revealed. These networks leverage the informal hawala system, bypassing traditional financial institutions and leaving no paper trail.
One former money launderer, identified only as Frank, described being involved in transactions totaling hundreds of millions of euros through hawala networks in Europe. He recounted witnessing approximately one million euros being transferred within a 90-minute period from an office outside Rotterdam. Frank stated that the system is utilized for a range of illicit operations, including terror financing, drug trafficking, and prostitution.
In Austria, the hawala system has been directly linked to people smuggling and violence. Austrian broadcaster ORF reported on a raid of what authorities called "the biggest hawala office in Vienna," operated out of a kebab restaurant. This establishment was allegedly used for payments related to people smuggling operations. Two Syrian brothers who ran the operation were subsequently charged with human trafficking, torture, and rape. They were convicted last year and received prison sentences of 18 and 8 years, respectively, for the torture and rape of a courier who had lost €350,000, claiming he had been robbed.
Further investigations by Austrian police and Europol have dismantled another significant people-smuggling ring that relied on hawala for financing. Officials estimate this ring transported approximately 100,000 individuals into Europe over an 18-month period. Gerald Tatzgern, who leads human-trafficking investigations at Austria's Criminal Intelligence Service (BK), highlighted that torture is a common tactic in people smuggling, used to extort more money from victims' families. He explained that videos of torture are sent to families with demands for additional payments, threatening further harm to their relatives.
The use of WhatsApp for these clandestine financial transactions allows for rapid, untraceable cash transfers globally. Messages uncovered in the investigation, dated between March and May 2022, show requests for specific sums of money in UK locations, such as "We need 60,000£ London" and "We need Birmingham, England, 15,150 pounds." Replies like "Sent" and "It's available" indicate the swift execution of these transfers. Some participant names in the chat logs were redacted in the reporting, particularly those not convicted in related cases.