German Court Declares Syrian Refugee Guilty Of Fraud Against ISIS

A German court sentenced a Syrian refugee to two years in jail for trying to con officials of the Islamic State, also known as ISIS, into sending him money by falsely promising to commit terror attacks, according to reports Monday.

A 39-year-old man, who was only identified as Hasan A because of German privacy laws, was found guilty of fraud. A judge in the district court of Saarbruecken found he had no plans and no accomplices to carry out the bombings he promised. He was sentenced to two years in jail because his offer of violence was a false pretense. He never received the money he requested.

Hasan was detained Dec. 31, 2016 for falsely promising ISIS officials he would carry out terror attacks. Hasan requested ISIS members send him 180,000 euros (about $211,995) to execute terror attacks, a court spokeswoman reported Monday. In December 2016, Hasan requested the money from an ISIS member he knew in Syria.

He told ISIS officials he would use the money to purchase vehicles he would load with explosives and drive into crowds in Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands, according to police. His goal was to cause explosions in the crowds and kill those who did not belong to the Muslim faith. According to Spiegel Online, Hasan planned to repaint the vehicles to pass them off as police patrol cars.

During the trial, the prosecution argued Hasan was going to carry out the attacks for ISIS and suggested he was guilty of a more serious crime — they argued he was guilty of plotting terror attacks. However, the judge said the false offer to commit terror attacks was just a ploy to cheat ISIS out of money. By finding Hasan guilty of fraud against ISIS, the German court gave protection to the group considered a terrorist organization by a large portion of the world.

Hasan lived in Germany since December 2014. He appealed for asylum in January 2015 and achieved refugee status, obtaining a residency permit, prosecutors reported in a statement.

Both the defense and the prosecution appealed the ruling to the Federal Supreme Court, according to a court spokeswoman.