Snapchat

Federal prosecutors have unsealed charges against Covington, Louisiana brothers Omar and Abdel Adhami, alleging they used Snapchat, Instagram and WhatsApp to solicit more than $80,000 from followers for Hamas, often posting pro-Hamas imagery. The FBI and NYPD investigation found Abdel Adhami allegedly sent roughly $80,000 via PayPal to associates of Saleem Alzaq, described as his handler in Gaza, between November 2023 and February of this year, while Omar allegedly sent about $6,000. Abdel faces charges of providing material support to a terrorist organization, wire fraud and money laundering; Omar faces material support and wire fraud counts. Alzaq has separately been indicted in Manhattan for raising nearly $1.75 million for Hamas.

In an unrelated state case, the brothers, their wives and another sibling were arrested October 7 on charges of defrauding Louisiana's Medicaid program of more than $224,000 by allegedly underreporting income. All five, arrested earlier at St. Tammany Parish Jail, face state felony theft and benefits fraud charges, to be prosecuted locally alongside the separate federal terrorism case.