Treasury Dept. sanctions two financiers tied to ISIS

The Trump administration on Thursday went after the financial network supporting the Islamic State, slapping sanctions on two of the terror group’s money men based in Iraq and Syria.

The Treasury Department announced that Muhammad Bahrun Naim Anggih Tamtomo and Muhammad Wanndy Bin Mohamed Jedi were added to the Specially Designated Global Terrorists list for providing financial and operational support for ISIS’s plots in Indonesia, Malaysia and across Southeast Asia.

Under the sanctions, their property and interests in property under U.S. jurisdiction are blocked and U.S. persons are generally prohibited from engaging in transactions with them.

“Designating Muhammad Bahrun Naim Anggih Tamtomo and Muhammad Wanndy Bin Mohamed Jedi sends a powerful signal to individuals that provide support to ISIS and demonstrates the U.S. government’s resolve to combat terrorism and terrorism financing in the region,” John E. Smith, director of the Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement.

Mr. Naim is a Syria-based Indonesian national and ISIS official who has served in a variety of roles including leading an ISIS unit, recruiting, and overseeing and funding ISIS operations in Indonesia and elsewhere, according to the Treasury.

He reportedly organized and funded the Jan. 14, 2016 attacks in Jakarta that killed four civilians and injured 23 people in multiple explosions and gunfire. Sometime prior to the attacks, Mr. Naim transferred nearly $72,000 to an associate in Indonesia, purportedly to conduct attacks on his instructions.

Mr. Wanndy is a Syria- and Iraq-based Malaysian ISIS operative who coordinates attack planning for ISIS and recruits and facilitates the travel of extremists fighters to Syria, according to the Treasury.

He is also believed to have directed multiple terror attacks.

In June 2016, Mr. Wanndy claimed responsibility on behalf of ISIS for a grenade attack on a nightclub in Malaysia in which eight people were wounded. He also warned Malaysian police about additional attacks and threatened to assassinate the Malaysian prime minister and other top officials.