Farhad Hoomer, a 47-year-old businessman in South Africa, is being placed on international sanctions lists due to his links to terrorism. The US Treasury claims he is a dangerous terrorist ringleader, raising and directing funds for Islamic State (IS) group cells across Africa. The US Treasury claims Hoomer pursues IS "objectives" in southern Africa and vows to attack US interests and its allies, as well as raising money via extortion and kidnapping. However, Hoomer denies this and is under heavy international banking sanctions, preventing him from having an account or making transactions.
South Africa has long been considered a conduit for terrorism funds, with several previous international plots having links back to the country. The country's position as Africa's most industrialised and financially developed market is combined with organised crime links and corruption. South Africa attracts large numbers of migrants seeking work from across the continent and has many formal and informal remittance and money transfer networks for them to send money home. Security forces have also been accused of becoming complacent to the threat of jihadist terrorist networks because the country has primarily escaped their attacks.
Africa has become the main arena for Islamic State to revive itself after it was ejected from its caliphate in Syria. Groups pledging allegiance to the organisation have spread across the Sahel, in Somalia, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo. Local al-Qaeda franchises have also leaked. Scrutiny applied further when America and the UK warned citizens of a possible terrorist group in Johannesburg last October.
Funds to support the groups allegedly come from various black market activities, from drug trafficking and precious minerals to hostage-taking. Funding streams even include online sex extortion scams, where victims are blackmailed after being persuaded to share intimate photos on dating apps. Police investigators have said the money often circulates in tiny cash transfers sent by mobile phones and is too small to attract attention.
Between 2020 and 2021, some £273 million left South Africa for Kenya, Somalia, Nigeria, and Bangladesh via nearly 60,000 unregistered SIM cards. Mr Hoomer, who has three wives, continues to protest his innocence and complains that the sanctions against him have ruined his life. Security analyst Jasmine Opperman said that if there was evidence against him, he should be tried in South Africa.
