A San Diego man suspected of raising money to fund terrorist organization Hamas was charged with terrorism and accused of other crimes on June 17, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi, 38, a naturalized U.S. citizen living in San Diego, was arrested on June 16 in San Diego.
Federal prosecutors allege Sabassi used the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack in Israel to attract donors to his charity and sent the funds to the terror organization after keeping some of the money for himself.
“From within the United States, Reda Sabassi is alleged to have solicited and diverted funds to the known foreign terrorist organization, Hamas, which committed the brutal October 7, 2023, massacre,” said U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton.
Federal prosecutors allege Sabassi has publicly supported Hamas by raising money using online donation platforms.
Authorities say Sabassi also created an hour-long propaganda video of the Oct. 7 Hamas attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1,200 people in Israel. The DOJ alleges he used the video on at least two of his social media accounts after the attack and again two years later on the anniversary of the terrorist attack.
Since at least 2022, Sabassi operated a nonprofit charity called the Arab Charity Foundation Inc., or “Ikram,” FBI Special Agent Schuyler Kenney reported in court charging documents.
Sabassi allegedly used the charity, along with social media accounts and crowdfunding websites, to solicit donations from people living in the United States and around the world, prosecutors allege.
He allegedly claimed to be raising funds for humanitarian aid for the people in Gaza but was actually raising funds for Hamas, according to the DOJ.
One of the fundraisers sought $100,000 for a family who “lost their parents and home in Israeli airstrikes,” Kenney stated in the charging documents.
Another fundraiser, titled “Gaza Relief,” had a goal of $1 million and was allegedly meant to provide vital necessities, food, tents, and clothing for people in need, according to court documents. Two other Gaza-related funds were also created, prosecutors claim.
Between December 2023 and about February 2024, Sabassi allegedly collected about $600,000 from thousands of donors through online fundraising and sent about $116,000 to a Hamas member. More than 100 of the donors lived in New York and gave more than $19,000, according to Kenney.
Screenshot showing an al-Qassam Brigades fighter affixing what appears to be an explosive to a drone allegedly found on devices owned by Reda Mazen Rida Sabassi of San Diego, according to the FBI. (U.S. DOJ)
Sabassi allegedly also tried to convert about $382,000 of the cash into cryptocurrency to send to Hamas through Gaza Now, according to court documents. However, two of Sabassi’s conspirators who were involved in transferring the funds failed to follow through.
After a two-month delay, Sabassi went to the police to report the missing funds and was advised to contact the FBI, which he did on March 21, 2024, according to the court documents.
Sabassi submitted a complaint to the FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center to report the $385,000 loss on behalf of the sham Ikram charity, saying he never received the money from his partners or the fundraising company.
After financial adjustments with a bank, Sabassi raised about $511,000 from the fundraisers to transfer to Hamas, but was only able to send about $126,000 to Gaza Now because his partners did not return about $382,000 of the funds, according to the court documents.
Sabassi allegedly also used some of the funds to pay for personal expenses, sending about $5,000 to a personal cryptocurrency account and about $6,000 to his personal bank account to pay off a credit card in 2024, prosecutors claim.
Sabassi faces five federal criminal counts: terrorism, evading economic sanctions, wire fraud, money laundering, and making false statements. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 85 years in prison.
The FBI logo on a building in Washington on Nov. 28, 2025. (Nathan Howard/Reuters)
Hamas was designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the United States in 1997. The group’s stated purpose is to create an Islamic Palestinian state throughout Israel by eliminating the State of Israel through violent holy war, or jihad.
Hamas also promotes attacks against the United States and its citizens, and has killed and injured dozens of Americans over the past decades, according to the DOJ.
“Hamas promotes attacks against the U.S. and has murdered dozens of Americans through acts of terror,” Clayton said. “Our arrest of Reda Sabassi demonstrates our whole-of-government commitment to prosecute those who provide financial support to a malign terrorist regime that hates America.”
