LONDON: The owner of a London barbershop who received thousands of pounds in COVID-19 grant payments and sent money to Daesh fighters in Syria was sentenced to 12 years in prison on Thursday.
During the coronavirus pandemic, the British government provided Tarek Namouj, 43, of west London, with a bounce-back loan to support his haircutting business.
The program was put in place to assist businesses during the global virus outbreak, and small and medium-sized businesses are eligible to borrow up to 25 per cent of their annual revenue, up to a maximum of £2,000.
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Namouj was already convicted on eight counts of providing information that could be used for terrorism and financing of terrorism. A further year of extended license was part of the sentence, which was announced at Kingston Crown Court.
From November 2020 to April 2021, according to evidence presented in court, Namouz sent approximately £11,280 to Syria. The money was planned to be used to support the national militia. During his remand, he was caught on camera telling a visitor that he had sent around £25,000, according to evidence presented in court.
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Following a police raid, prosecutors claimed to have found cash and a hidden mobile phone from the barbershop containing messages to a contact in Syria, a Daesh bomb-making video and a video of a knife murder.
The head of the Metropolitan Police's Counter-Terrorism Command, Commander Richard Smith, said that in order for terrorist organizations to carry out their operations and survive, they needed money.
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Smith added: "People like Namoz who finance terrorist organizations both in the UK and abroad are enabling others to go on and carry out serious and deadly attacks, and we will always pursue, investigate and prosecute those people." Will try to get justice.
According to Judge Peter Lauder, Namouz planned to "re-establish a state according to overtly Islamic principles" and demonstrated a "commitment to terrorism".
He continued, "You operated a barbershop in Hammersmith in 2020 and 2021. You were eligible for a COVID-19 bounce-back loan, which the local council paid to you.
"You transferred that money - along with other funds - to terrorists in Syria using a transfer and currency exchange in West London."