TORONTO, ON – Khalilullah Yousuf, a Toronto resident, was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Monday after pleading guilty to terrorist financing and participating in terrorist group activity. With credit for time served since his arrest in July 2023, he faces an additional nine years behind bars. The case, which involved sophisticated methods to send funds to the Islamic State (ISIS), marks only the third terrorist financing conviction in Canadian history.
Yousuf, a Canadian citizen, admitted to raising funds under false pretenses, claiming donations were for Palestinians in Gaza and Muslim religious events. Instead, he sent the money to ISIS supporters, who provided photos of weapons, ammunition, and an ISIS flag to demonstrate how the funds were used. “Claiming he was fundraising for Palestinians in Gaza and Muslim religious events, Yousuf solicited donations on crowdfunding sites such as GoFundMe,” according to RCMP and media reports.
Beginning in 2019, Yousuf ran four online fundraising campaigns, including a “Ramadan Appeal for Gaza” and a plea for donations for “Our sister Palestine Umm from Gaza.” He collected over $35,000, combining donations with money from unemployment insurance and COVID-19 emergency benefits. Initially, he used MoneyGram and Western Union to transfer funds to ISIS supporters in the U.S., Spain, and other countries. Later, he switched to bitcoin, telling an undercover officer it was better because “it did not leave a trail.”
Yousuf’s crimes extended beyond financing. He acknowledged producing ISIS propaganda and manuals on how to join the terror group and carry out attacks. One poster he created read, “The blood of the disbeliever is equal to the blood of a dog,” while another encouraged using vehicles to run down pedestrians. He also pledged allegiance to ISIS leader Abu al-Hussain al-Hussaini al-Qurashi, with a note on his encrypted hard drive stating he believed the Islamic caliphate was “the only acceptable form of rule.”
The investigation, led by the RCMP’s Integrated National Security Enforcement Team alongside the FBI and Spain’s Guardia Civil, spanned two years. “This case involved marshaling a significant amount of complex evidence related to cryptocurrency, online undercover operations and digital forensics,” said Crown prosecutor Ira Glasner. “The result was a principled and fit sentence for this corrosive offence.”
Jessica Davis, president of Ottawa-based Insight Threat Intelligence, highlighted the case’s significance. “This is the third terrorist financing conviction in Canada, which in and of itself is significant,” she said. “It’s an important signal to others who might seek to send funds to terrorist groups abroad that they can be caught.” Davis noted Yousuf’s use of cryptocurrency, crowdfunding, and commercial cash transfer companies, adding, “The combination of various methods for moving funds is increasingly common: terrorist financiers tend to favour different methods in case one is disrupted.”
Yousuf’s activities also included communications with an alleged overseas ISIS supporter, Osama Aboubayda, who in December 2022 tasked him with researching the Chinese embassy in Kabul. A week later, ISIS attacked a Chinese hotel in the Afghan capital, wounding 5 Chinese nationals, though no direct link to Yousuf’s actions was specified in court.
The case comes amid heightened concerns about ISIS-related activities in Canada. A recent report by the Organization for the Prevention of Violence noted that religiously motivated violent extremism linked to ISIS has “re-emerged in Canada after a lull following the fall of the caliphate in Syria and Iraq.” The report cited recent arrests indicating a “growing interest in carrying out attacks within Canada, with an increasing number of young people involved.”
Yousuf’s conviction underscores the challenges of tracking terrorist financing in the current age, where cryptocurrencies and online platforms can obscure illicit transactions. His sentencing serves as a warning to others, as authorities continue to deal with evolving threats from international terrorist networks.
