Augusta Montaruli (Fdi): «Clarity on the flows of money and the names of those who supported the terror collection»
During an information provided to Chamber of Deputies the Minister of the Interior Matteo Piantedosi illustrated the developments of the investigation it involves Mohammad Hannounpresident of the Palestinian Association in Italy, outlining a picture that goes well beyond the simple collection of funds for humanitarian purposes. «The veil has been torn on activities which, behind the screen of initiatives in favor of the Palestinian population, were systematically diverted towards structures in Gaza attributable to the aegis of Hamasfor terrorist purposes”, stated the owner of the Interior Ministry. A passage on which Piantedosi invited reflection “especially from those who, on some occasions, have shown uncritical and purely ideological closeness to people involved in the investigation, underestimating, perhaps in good faith, the delicacy and complexity of contexts that move in an area that is not always clear between appreciable intentions and less clear intentions”. In his speech, the minister also recalled a recent decision of the Court of Cassation: “There Cassation – added the minister, accepting an appeal from the Ministry of the Interior – he recently annulled with postponement the decision of the Turin appeal judges, who had released theimam of Turin Mohamed Shahinrecipient of an expulsion order for reasons of state security”. A reference which, he explained Planting yourself, is linked to the fact that «there were considered to be links between this subject and some exponents of pseudo-charitable associations pro-Pal, belonging to Mohammad Hannounarrested with the latter for the crime of international terrorism”.
As illustrated by Interior Ministry, the funds raised through «donations ideally intended for humanitarian and religious purposes in favor of the Palestinian cause – underlined the minister – appear to have been systematically diverted to structures in Gaza in various capacities attributable to Hamas». The investigations describe Hannoun, “Jordanian citizen, resident for years in Genoa, figure of reference”, as “according to the investigative hypothesis, the head of the Italian Hamas cell”. Piantedosi explained that «behind the language of humanitarianism and religiosity, a stable system of propaganda and financing of terrorism has emerged», structured in an operational network between Genoa, Milan and Rome, active in collecting money inside mosques, public events and demonstrations.
The minister also clarified that «in-depth acquisitions by the international intelligence network and analyzes carried out by the Central Directorate of the Prevention Police of the Ministry of the Interior have been carried out on the financial activity carried out by the Jordanian citizen in question», also in light of «numerous reports of suspicious financial transactions for money transfers carried out» by Hannoun and fromCharitable Association of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. On an operational level, «the Guardia di Finanza, through the Gico and the Special Currency Police Unitfocused mainly on the reconstruction of financial flows and asset assessments”, while “the Digos, at the same time, it dedicated itself to the analysis of associative aspects, including the suspects’ links to the Hamas leadership”. From the investigative activities it also emerged “how the group of people under investigation – some of whom highlighted direct affiliation relationships with prominent exponents of Hamas – made use of its own representatives, specifically located throughout the national territory, to collect money on the occasion of religious events and public demonstrations”. Thanks to “an effective system of networks and fictitious structures, created with the aim of evading the ordinary control mechanisms of the banking and financial credit circuit”, the same group would have managed to transfer “over 7 million euros to members of Hamas, with the aim of supporting the action of the terrorist organization itself”.
The Honorable Member also spoke on the case Augusta Montaruli (Fdi), which has long been involved in the fight against terrorism. «From the words of Minister Piantedosi emerges as Hannoun not only is he under investigation for a pro-Hamas fundraiser but he is the alleged leader of this terrorist organization in Italy. A network so extensive both in terms of territory and entrances could not be supported by the ignorance of those who contributed. For this reason it is necessary to delve deeper into the flows of money and the names of the material financiers of Hannoun and its associations. In recent months we have seen certificates of thanks to people and organizations from the Palestinian association in Italy for their support in Gaza. Were they thanks for the terror collection? This is the question at the center of our question to the Interior Ministry.”
