Secret WhatsApp chat exposes vast criminal network that moved hundreds of millions of euros, including to terrorists

A photograph of a five-euro note, including its serial number, served as a coded marker in a global cash-transfer network uncovered through a secret WhatsApp group.

The group, called “Traders of Greater Europe,” had 532 members. An investigation by a European Broadcasting Union journalism network found that members used it to arrange large cash transfers around the world. Some of the money allegedly reached organised criminals and supported extremist activity.

More than 82,000 messages sent between February and December 2022 were found in the chat. In one case, money from Brussels was passed to Islamic State militants in Syria, according to the BBC. Other transfers were linked to people smuggling and drug trafficking.

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The case began as an investigation into terrorism financing, but it became just a drop in the ocean of transactions.

The network used hawala, a centuries-old system based on trusted intermediaries. It can move money across borders without a conventional bank transfer, electronic record or the physical shipment of the same banknotes. Investigators said that feature made it attractive to criminal groups seeking to transfer large sums with a lower risk of detection, although hawala also serves legitimate purposes.

The group handled transactions above 5,000 euros, often involving much larger sums. Investigators found the key evidence after Belgian police arrested people suspected of money laundering and examined one suspect’s phone. The device contained about 6,000 identity-document photographs and roughly the same number of images of five-euro notes with visible serial numbers.

Belgian investigating judge Vincent Guerra described the number of transactions as “astonishing” and said the case had grown far beyond its initial terrorism-financing inquiry. Investigators estimate that at least 12,000 transactions passed through the network.

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This is not just amateur work. It is professional. And at a level we could never have imagined. They are bankers without any government oversight.