Washington DC, US – A United States federal court has sentenced a Somali woman to 15 years in prison after finding her guilty of financing terrorism by raising more than $1.2 million for the militant group Al-Shabaab.
Prosecutors said the woman, who had been living in the United States, coordinated with a network of operatives across several countries to collect funds under the guise of humanitarian assistance. The money was funneled over a period of years to Al-Shabaab, which has waged a violent insurgency in Somalia for more than a decade.
Court documents revealed that she directed supporters to send donations through informal money transfer systems known as hawalas. Investigators tracked the transactions to intermediaries linked with Al-Shabaab’s leadership in Somalia.
Authorities said the woman used social media platforms, encrypted messaging apps, and community events to solicit funds, often portraying the cause as relief for displaced families. In reality, prosecutors argued, she was exploiting community trust to bankroll terrorism.
“This case demonstrates the serious threat posed by illicit financial networks that exploit diasporas to support violent extremist groups abroad,” federal officials said after the sentencing.
The woman’s defense team argued for leniency, citing her family responsibilities and lack of prior criminal record. However, the court stressed that the scale of the funding and its direct support to a designated terrorist organization warranted a lengthy sentence.
Al-Shabaab, an affiliate of al-Qaeda, remains one of the deadliest extremist groups in Africa. It has carried out attacks in Somalia, Kenya, and other parts of the region, targeting civilians, government institutions, and international forces.
The sentencing marks one of the most significant terrorism financing cases involving the Somali diaspora in the United States in recent years.