Louisiana brothers charged with allegedly funneling money to Hamas through charity funds

Two Louisiana brothers have been charged with allegedly using social media and purported charitable fundraising to transfer money to the Hamas terrorist organization, according to federal court filings unsealed this week.

Abdel Adhami and his brother Omar were charged in federal court in Louisiana with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and wire fraud. Abdel also faces a money-laundering charge. Hamas is designated as a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.

According to the court filings, Abdel coordinated efforts to raise money for Hamas with Saleem Alzaq, a Gaza-based man whom investigators identified as a Hamas-affiliated fundraiser and social media activist. Investigators said the two used Snapchat to coordinate the collection and distribution of funds.

Abdel Adhami allegedly began soliciting donations through Instagram shortly after the Oct.7, 2023, Hamas invasion and terror attack in southern Israel, asking followers to use a Western Union account to “donate to our afflicted brothers in Gaza.” The alleged fundraising network also extended beyond the United States, with court filings referring to a purported charity in France.

Investigators said Adhami and Alzaq used the terms “bread” and “bread people” as codewords in their communications. In a 2024 exchange, Alzaq allegedly told Adhami that “bread,” which investigators interpreted as referring to Hamas, was operating from Gaza City’s al-Shifa Hospital. The Israeli military has previously accused Hamas of using hospitals and other civilian facilities for military purposes and has released evidence it says supports those allegations.

“By God, every time I see one of the bread people do something, I would wish I was there with him,” Adhami said. “I ask God almighty that I be one of those who make jihad with their money,” he added, thereby implicating himself.

“The one who wages jihad with money is also considered a jihadist,” he said in another exchange.

Adhami subsequently told his brother Omar how to transfer money overseas.  

“The prophet said, ‘He who equips a fighter is as if he has taken part in the fighting himself,’” he reportedly told his brother. He allegedly instructed him: “When you want to send something, you tell him, ‘This amount for the bread,’ and he will understand. Don’t mention anything by its name on WhatsApp and use the word ‘bread’ instead.”

According to investigators, Abdel Adhami transferred more than $83,000 through PayPal to three recipients abroad. His brother allegedly sent more than $6,000 to Alzaq and his associates.

In November 2025, Alzaq allegedly contacted an undercover NYPD officer and said he had “friends” in New York, Ohio and “all over the United States.”

“Let me see my friends in New York, and they are all from Palestine,” Alzaq said, according to investigators. “They are American, all of them. They are young people and they send me all the time. They never fall short with us; they fund us,” he said.

The Louisiana case appears to be connected to a Florida investigation announced last month involving Raed Yousef, who was charged with allegedly transferring tens of thousands of dollars to Hamas and committing related financial crimes. The cases also reference an alleged fundraising network involving individuals in France.

The Adhami case is part of a series of recent US federal investigations into alleged fundraising networks supporting Hamas and other Gaza-based terrorist groups. According to court filings cited in the cases, investigators have examined the use of social media, crowdfunding, payment platforms and purported humanitarian initiatives to raise and transfer funds..