A Tajik national residing in Brooklyn was arrested Wednesday on charges of conspiring to support the Islamic State (ISIS) and its Central Asian offshoot, ISIS-K, by transferring tens of thousands of dollars to ISIS supporters in Turkey and Syria, ABC News reported.
The man, Mansuri Manuchekhri, is also facing charges of unlawfully possessing a firearm while in the United States and immigration fraud. According to the FBI, Manuchekhri entered the US in June 2016 on a nonimmigrant tourist visa and remained in the country illegally after his visa expired in December of that year.
The criminal complaint states that Manuchekhri facilitated payments amounting to $70,000 to ISIS-linked individuals in Turkey and Syria. One of the recipients was later arrested by Turkish authorities for allegedly taking part in the January 2024 terrorist attack on a church in Istanbul, an attack for which ISIS-K publicly claimed responsibility.
To confirm the funds had been received, the suspect reportedly sent Manuchekhri a photo of Syrian currency, according to the report.
Authorities say Manuchekhri engaged in regular weapons training and shared videos of himself firing assault rifles with an ISIS associate in Turkey. In one of the messages, he wrote, “Thank God, I am ready, brother,” and in another, he stated, “Praise be upon God. . . . Brother, I go for training at least once or twice a week.”
Manuchekhri appeared before US Magistrate Judge Robert M. Levy in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday. He was ordered to remain in custody pending trial.