(USNewsBreak.com) – Last January, then-New York City Police Commissioner Keechant L. Sewell and Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg announced the indictment of Uzbekistan national, 43-year-old Victoria Jacobs. Prosecutors charged her with money laundering, soliciting or providing support for an act of terrorism in the First Degree, and other offenses. Her trial recently started in New York.
On Tuesday, January 16, the first-ever terrorism financing trial in New York’s court system began with opening statements. Nearly a year has passed since prosecutors filed charges against Jacobs, who authorities accused of using cryptocurrency and Google Play cards to help sponsor terrorism by providing material support to Hay’at Tahrir al-Sham, which the US designated as a terrorist organization, and Malhama Tactical, which provided specialized training to and fought alongside the group.
Opening statements are expected Tuesday in the trial of an Uzbekistan native who is charged with using cryptocurrency to fund Syrian-based terrorist groups and launder supporters' contributions.https://t.co/JuCKfjKyU1
— ABC News (@ABC) January 16, 2024
According to the indictment, Jacobs, known as Bakhrom Talipov, sent support to Malhama Tactical by collecting money wires and cryptocurrency from people around the world and transmitting the funds, which totaled more than $10,000, to the group’s Bitcoin wallets. Prosecutors also accused her of sending a US Army Improvised Munitions Handbook to groups suspected of associating with terrorist organizations to help with bomb-making efforts. Jacobs also possessed military-style weapons, for which she faces six counts of third-degree criminal weapon possession.
At the time of the indictment, Bragg described it as a “complex case” but said it was a clear display of “the depth of knowledge and resources” investigators have “to combat terrorism and extremism in New York and throughout the globe.”
Jacobs has pleaded not guilty to all 11 counts against her, four of which are violent felonies.
Jacobs also ran afoul of the law in March 2019 for a purported rental scam in which she allegedly collected rent totaling $13,200 for a property she didn’t have the authority to rent. It’s unclear whether any charges resulted from that incident.
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