By Jessica Russak-Hoffman, JNS
"The charging documents help show how social media applications have lowered the bar to facilitate money and support to Hamas," Seamus Hughes, a University of Nebraska terrorism expert, told JNS.
Omar Adhami and Abdel Adhami, two Louisiana brothers, face federal charges of using online payment services to finance Hamas, and referring to "bread" as a code word on WhatsApp to mask their allegedly illegal activity, according to criminal complaints filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana on Sept. 11 and unsealed on Wednesday.
The two, who are both in their 30s, are charged with providing material support to a foreign terror group and wire fraud, and Abdel Adhami, the older of the two, also faces a money laundering charge.
"The arrest of these two brothers are but a growing number of Hamas-related federal cases filed around the country in recent months," Seamus Hughes, senior researcher at the University of Nebraska Omaha's National Counterterrorism Innovation, Technology and Education Center, told JNS. "Authorities appear to be focusing largely on the role alleged U.S. supporters of the terror group help provide funding to Hamas."
The brothers communicated with Saleem Alzaq, a Gaza-based fundraiser whose social media accounts promoted Hamas while soliciting donations presented as charitable aid, according to FBI affidavits included with the complaints.
Investigators allege that the older brother sent $81,272 with two PayPal accounts between November 2023 and February 2026 and transferred $2,000 in October 2023 via Western Union. The younger brother allegedly sent about $2,900 via four Western Union transactions between July 2021 and April 2023.
In a message to his brother reproduced in his affidavit, the elder Adhami allegedly explained how to disguise discussions about money intended for fighters.
"Don't mention anything by its name on WhatsApp, and use the word 'bread' instead," he allegedly wrote.
The affidavit also states that an undercover New York City Police Department employee contacted Alzaq in November 2025. Alzaq allegedly directed the employee to contact the older Adhami, who offered to process a donation through his store's credit card system as though the donor was making a purchase and then transfer the money.
"But do not worry. Everything is legal, God willing," Abdel Adhami allegedly wrote.
"The charging documents help show how social media applications have lowered the bar to facilitate money and support to Hamas," Hughes told JNS. "They also show that law enforcement, in this case the NYPD, are continuously forward-leaning on identifying individuals online that may raise terrorism concerns"
