Victoria Jacobs, a 44-year-old woman from the Upper East Side of Manhattan, has been found guilty by a jury in New York of funding terrorism by using cryptocurrency to provide financial support to armed groups operating in Syria. The case, which has garnered significant attention, marks a significant moment in the intersection of cryptocurrency and criminal activity.
Jacobs was accused of providing more than $5,000 to Malhama Tactical, a “consortium of elite military trainers” referred to by some in the West as “the Blackwater of jihad,” which fought alongside Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS), a designated terrorist organization by the US State Department.
The trial, which lasted about two weeks, resulted in Jacobs being found guilty of charges related to providing support for a “terrorist act”, conspiracy, money laundering, and possession of a weapon for criminal purposes. The severity of the charges means that she could face a sentence of up to 25 years, with the sentencing scheduled for April 3.
The Manhattan District Attorney’s Office hailed the conviction as a significant victory in the fight against terrorism financing. The Attorney General emphasized that Manhattan will not be allowed to become a base for terrorism, whether at home or abroad.
During the trial, Jacobs’ behavior in court raised eyebrows, with her refusal to answer questions and her apparent reluctance to testify angering the judge. The prosecution painted Jacobs as a double agent who sought help from terrorist groups to carry out her jihadist mission, using cryptocurrency to access financial markets in New York, which in turn allowed these groups to carry out “terrorist acts” in Syria.
In a dramatic turn, one of Jacobs’ lawyers argued that the perception of terrorism is subjective, citing George Washington, the first American president, as an example of a figure considered a terrorist by some, namely Great Britain against whom Washington rebelled. It is interesting to note that the group, HTS, has never carried out any attacks outside of Syria nor attacked US troops within the country which Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation says is an “opposition group that aims to overthrow the Assad Regime.”
