France Orders Jail Time for 2 Men Charged With Funding Terrorism in Syria With Crypto: Report

French authorities finalized prison sentences for two men who were arrested on charges of funding terrorism in Syria via cryptocurrencies, multiple local media outlets reported Friday.

• The two men, Franco-Algerian Sami Allem and Franco-Moroccan Abderrahman Cheikh were sentenced in a Paris criminal court on Friday for "participation in a terrorist criminal association" and "financing of terrorism," French daily newspaper Le Figaro reported Sunday.
• Allem was sentenced to three years in prison with one year probation, while Cheikh was sentenced to two years in jail with two years' probation, according to the report.
• The two men were arrested in September 2020 following an operation by France's anti-terrorism prosecution Parquet national antiterroriste (Pnat), Le Figaro reported. In September 2020, French police arrested 29 people suspected of funding Islamist extremists in Syria with crypto.
• Allem and Cheikh were part of a network that was accused of having financed "jihadists" in Syria using crypto between 2018 and 2020. The amount transferred via crypto to Syria for the purpose of funding terrorism was estimated to be around 280,000 euros ($280,268), according to the report.
• France's Ministry of Justice did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Read more: French Authorities Arrest 29 Suspected of Using Crypto to Fund Extremists in Syria