Key points
- A close relative called a tip line to report the suspect
- Man possessed firearm while unlawfully in US
- Tajik national also accused of immigration fraud
ISLAMABAD: A Tajik national has been arrested in New York on charges of conspiring to support the Islamic State and its offshoot in Central Asia, ISIS-K, by providing tens of thousands of dollars to ISIS followers in Turkey and Syria.
The Brooklyn resident, Mansuri Manuchekhri, was also charged with possessing a firearm while unlawfully in the United States and immigration fraud.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) said he entered the United States in June 2016 on a non-immigrant tourist visa and remained after his visa expired in December 2016, ABC News reported.
ISIS-affiliated individuals
According to the criminal complaint, Manuchekhri facilitated $70,000 in payments to ISIS-affiliated individuals in Turkey and Syria, including to an individual who was later arrested by Turkish authorities for his alleged involvement in a January 2024 terrorist attack on a church in Istanbul for which ISIS-K publicly claimed responsibility.
The complaint said the individual sent a photo of Syrian currency to Manuchekhri to confirm it had been received.
Manuchekhri also frequently trained on firearms and sent videos of himself firing assault rifles to an ISIS affiliate in Turkey, on one occasion with the message, “Thank God, I am ready, brother,” and on another occasion with the message, “Praise be upon God. . . . Brother, I go for training at least once or twice a week,” the complaint said.
The tip-off
A close relative called the New York State Terrorism Tips Hotline to express concern Manuchekhri might commit acts of violence, the FBI said.
In an arraignment in federal court in Brooklyn on Wednesday, US Magistrate Judge Robert M Levy ordered Manuchekhri held pending trial.
