Politics: A woman from New York could spend 90 years in prison for allegedly sending bitcoin to ISIS

Zoobiah Shahnaz allegedly spent $62,000 on cryptocurrencies, and wired money to ISIS through shell companies.

• Zoobiah Shahnaz allegedly sent cash to ISIS via cryptocurrencies.
• The 27-year-old New Yorker funnelled $62,000 to the group via bitcoin and other currencies, according to the Department of Justice.
• She is standing trial in New York and faces 90 years in prison if convicted.

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A woman from New York could be imprisoned for as long as 90 years for allegedly sending ISIS money in the form of bitcoin.

Zoobiah Shahnaz, an American from Long Island, is accused of funnelling $62,000 to the group via bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies earlier this year.

Shahnaz took out more than a dozen credit cards earlier this year and used the money she borrowed to by cryptocurrency and send it abroad, according to an indictment filed by US attorneys in federal court.

Her overall financial support for ISIS totals $150,000(£112,000), according to a press release by the Department of Justice, which did not specify what form the other $88,000 took.

According to the release, Shahnaz "engaged in a pattern of financial activity, culminating in several wire transactions, totaling over $150,000, to individuals and apparent shell entities in Pakistan, China and Turkey."

It added: "These transactions were designed to avoid transaction reporting requirements, conceal the identity, source and destination of the illicitly obtained monies, and, ultimately, benefit ISIS."

She then allegedly tried to leave the US for Syria via Pakistan and Turkey, but was stopped before she left the country.

Shahnaz was indicted on five counts, three of money laundering, one of bank fraud and one of conspiracy to money launder. If convicted on all counts she could spend 90 years in federal prison: 20 for each count of money laundering and 30 for fraud.

This is not the first time terrorist groups have been linked to funding via cryptocurrencies.

Terrorists have increasingly started to use bitcoin over the past few years, increasing from about 100 daily transactions in 2009 to 282,000 daily transactions in 2017 so far, the Council on Foreign Relations said.

The Ibn Taymiyyah Media Center, a jihadi propaganda group in the Gaza Strip, started soliciting funds on bitcoin — at least $2,500 for each fighter — as early as June 2016, according to former CIA counterterrorism analyst Yaya Fanusie.

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