Sacramento man sentenced for financing foreign terrorist organization

A Russian citizen residing in Sacramento was sentenced to 12 years in prison after he sent thousands of dollars to a designated terrorist organization, according to federal officials.

Court documents claim that 37-year-old Murat Kurashev used money transfer services to send around $13,000 to two known couriers of a Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fundraiser.

HTS is based in Syria and is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the Secretary of State, according to federal officials.

Officials said multiple transactions were sent to the couriers in Turkey in increments of $1,000, with surveillance footage of Kurashev at the businesses backing up the claim.

Read more: KTVU (Bay Area, CA)