Americans paid for hundreds of thousands of meals that went to al Qaeda-affiliated fighters in Syria, federal prosecutors revealed in announcing charges against the nongovernmental organization employee who they say was responsible for the diversion.
Mahmoud Al Hafyan, who ran the organization’s Syrian division, skimmed as much as $10 million worth of meals funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development.
The meals were supposed to go to Syrian civil war refugees. Mr. Al Hafyan allowed members of the Nusra Front, an al Qaeda-linked terrorist organization, to collect the meals, U.S. investigators said as they unsealed an indictment last week.
Mr. Al Hafyan cooked the books to hide the diversions, but authorities said two whistleblowers reported him. They suggested he then faked a kidnapping to argue that he was forced to divert the food kits, but the details and timing undercut his claim.
All told, 380,000 meal kits were skimmed off for the Nusra Front in what authorities called a shocking abuse of U.S. taxpayers’ generosity.
“Not only was Al Hafyan supporting violent terrorists, but he was stealing money from the U.S. government that was meant for humanitarian efforts,” said Sanjay Virmani, special agent in charge of counterterrorism at the FBI’s Washington field office.
Court documents didn’t name the NGO but listed the federal grant numbers involved. Those grants were traced back to Catholic Relief Services.
An updated arrest warrant was issued for Mr. Al Hafyan in February, but he remains at large. His last known location was Gaziantep, Turkey.
In court records, no attorney was listed for him.
USAID declined to confirm the NGO’s name for “safety reasons.”
Catholic Relief Services didn’t respond to multiple inquiries for this report.
The Nusra Front was one of the groups fighting to overthrow the Syrian government led by Bashar Assad. Prosecutors described it as an affiliate of al Qaeda in Iraq. It was also affiliated with figures in the Islamic State group, but they had a falling out in 2013.
The court documents don’t say what the group did with the food kits. U.S. intelligence officials say the Nusra Front strove to provide some civil services and humanitarian assistance to sway the loyalty of Syrians in the territory the group controlled.
Authorities said Mr. Al Hafyan worked with at least two confederates who maintained the warehouse storing the food. They diverted truckloads of food, which the Nusra Front picked up from the warehouse.
Damien Tymes, a USAID inspector general special agent, told the federal court in the District of Columbia that Mr. Al Hafyan was also personally skimming some of the kits, which cost about $25 apiece.
He said USAID estimated the total amount stolen to be $9.3 million to $10.1 million over four years out of the $122 million the NGO was given.
Authorities say employees of the NGO tipped them off. Both witnesses said they saw members of the terrorist group displaying Nusra Front flags and claiming food kits.
According to court documents filed in the case, one witness said the NGO’s books were cooked to conceal the fraud.
USAID eventually hired a monitor to visit villages where food was supposed to be delivered. That was when they realized the extent of the diversions.
USAID said it shut down the food program after it was “made aware of irregularities” in December 2017.
“USAID has robust risk mitigation measures in place within our humanitarian programs to help ensure that the assistance reaches those for whom it is intended,” the agency said.
When investigators asked Mr. Al Hafyan about the diversions, he claimed he was forced to make them as part of a deal to ensure the “safety” of his personnel. He also claimed Nusra Front operatives had kidnapped him.
The whistleblowers said the kidnapping was a stunt contrived after the diversions began. Mr. Al Hafyan was returned unharmed after a short time, breaking the usual pattern for Nusra Front kidnappings.
Investigators also found a spreadsheet on Mr. Al Hafyan’s cellphone that listed thousands of kits going to known Nusra Front personnel.
• Stephen Dinan can be reached at sdinan@washingtontimes.com.
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