Spanish police arrest Chinese hair salon owner accused of financing Hamas

MADRID, Jan 30 (Reuters) – Spanish police have detained a 38-year-old Chinese national who owned a hair salon near Barcelona on suspicion of financing the militant group Hamas through about 600,000 euros ($714,960) in cryptocurrency transfers, regional police said on Friday.

Investigators traced at least 31 crypto transactions from virtual wallets controlled by the suspect to addresses that are suspected of being linked to an entity used by the Islamist group, whose attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, triggered a two-year war in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas is designated as a terrorist organisation by the 27-member European Union and other Western nations.

Police declined to comment on the suspect’s possible motives and on whether he had interacted knowingly with Hamas or was just an intermediary, citing the sensitivity of the investigation.

During searches of the suspect’s hair salon and home, officers seized cryptoassets, cash, some 9,000 cigars, jewellery, computers and mobile phones, the police said.

They also froze several bank accounts, with the total value of seized and blocked assets exceeding 370,000 euros.

Their investigation began last June during a separate probe into fraud and money laundering, police said.

Authorities have warned in recent years that militant groups are using cryptocurrencies to move funds across borders, complicating efforts to track and disrupt terrorism financing.

($1 = 0.8392 euros)

(Reporting by Jesus CaleroEditing by Andrei Khalip and Gareth Jones)