The Terrorist Financing Targeting Center (TFTC) hosted a two-day workshop on May 9-10, 2023, in Doha, Qatar on terrorism financing prosecutions. The first day of the workshop consisted of a panel of terrorism finance prosecution experts and four presentations by the US Department of Justice, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the US Department of Treasury (FinCEN) while the second day consisted of an interactive hypothetical scenario. US Ambassador to Qatar, Timmy Davis, and Qatar’s National Counter-Terrorism Committee Vice-Chairman Major Gen. Nasser Saeed al-Hajiri provided opening remarks to kick-off the event. 

The United States Department of Justice National Security Division briefed a terrorism of two former ISIS members who abducted and detained of over twenty individuals from several different countries, as well as the detention and murder of four United States citizens. The case study discussed detailed the explanation of evidence used by the government from surviving hostages, federal agencies, and foreign partners, and how the prosecution team protected sensitive witnesses and classified information before and during trial.  

The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and Qatar both highlighted key factors of their TF investigative and prosecution process. Their remarks provided valuable insights into their process including Qatar highlighting a real-life success story related to an ISIS affiliate case. The first day ended with US Department of Treasury’s FIU discussing FinCEN’s mission and the role of the FIU in detecting instances of terrorist financing and including how financial information was used to develop investigative leads. 

The second day of the workshop included an exercise that studied lessons learned from day one such as how to use financial intelligence tools in a hypothetical scenario to advance a terrorist financing case involving multiple jurisdictions. This exercise was an opportunity for member countries to work together and engage in thoughtful feedback surrounding this process. The TFTC continues to prioritize collaborative opportunities for member states to learn from one another on ever-changing environment and often challenging AML/CFT processes.