Two brothers from Louisiana have been charged with federal terrorism and fraud offenses after investigators say donations collected for Gaza relief were secretly funneled to Hamas.
Abdel Adhami and Omar Adhami were arrested in September. Both face charges of providing material support and wire fraud. Abdel Adhami faces an additional money laundering charge. According to the FBI, he moved $81,272 through two PayPal accounts and another $2,000 through Western Union.
The money, prosecutors say, was allegedly routed to Saleem Alzaq, who is separately facing federal indictment in New York. Alzaq ran a fundraising campaign that asked donors for help buying food and winter supplies for Palestinians in Gaza. The campaign brought in more than $1.7 million, including at least $626,000 from donors inside the United States. Prosecutors say the money did not go toward the humanitarian purposes donors were told it would support.
Coded Language in Private Messages
Court documents describe private WhatsApp messages between the brothers in which Abdel allegedly instructed Omar to avoid naming people or groups directly. Investigators say he told his brother to use the word “bread” instead.
“Don’t mention anything by its name on WhatsApp, and use the word ‘bread’ instead.”
Prosecutors say the term “bread” appeared in alleged discussions tied to funding for Hamas, along with another code phrase, “the Green.” According to the indictment, Alzaq told an undercover officer he could get money to the group but that documenting the transfers was difficult because members avoided using identification.
An Undercover Contact
An undercover NYPD employee contacted Alzaq in November 2025, according to court filings. Alzaq allegedly referred the person, posing as a donor, to Abdel Adhami, who offered to process the donation through his store’s credit card system as if it were a retail purchase before transferring the funds. Prosecutors say Abdel followed up with a message of reassurance.
“But do not worry. Everything is legal, God willing.”
Abdel Adhami now faces three federal charges in connection with the case.
Alzaq’s Earlier Activity
The indictment against Alzaq also references October 7, 2023, the date of Hamas’s attack on Israel. Prosecutors allege Alzaq launched an appeal that day for injured Gazans while also posting material celebrating the attack. By the following October, prosecutors say, he was instructing PayPal donors to avoid referencing Hamas or the phrase “Free Palestine” in their transactions, in an apparent effort to prevent their accounts from being closed.
The case echoes a July arrest in the United Kingdom, where authorities detained Mohammad Yousef Hasna, a charity director based in Turkey. The U.S. Justice Department has accused him of moving money and supplies to Hamas leaders under the cover of humanitarian work.
Federal prosecutors have not indicated when the Adhami brothers or Alzaq are expected to appear in court on the current charges.
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