Aussie 'helping Indonesians to fight for IS'

Indonesia believes an Australian man has been funnelling money into the country to pay for Indonesians to travel to Syria to fight with IS.

(File: YouTube)

Source: YouTube

Indonesian authorities suspect an Australian man has been raising money and sending it offshore to pay for Indonesians to travel to Syria to fight with Islamic State.

The deputy chair of Indonesia's financial intelligence body Intrac has told the ABC it has tracked 5 billion rupiah, or $500,000, transferred from bank accounts in Australia to at least 10 accounts in Indonesia.

Agus Santoso won't reveal the man's identity or where he's living in Australia, but says his Indonesian wife has been used to set up bank accounts in Indonesia to receive the funds.

"That man collected money from many people in Australia. Then he sent it to his wife's account in Indonesia," Mr Santoso said.

He strongly suspects the money is being used to send Indonesians to Syria while also funding IS recruitment in Indonesia.

"What is surprising is that the kingpin is not an immigrant. In my opinion he is native Australian, not an immigrant. I mean, he is white."

Mr Santoso said he believed some terrorist sympathisers were marrying Indonesian women to help further their cause.

Intrac told the ABC the Australian man had collected the money through fundraising in Australia.

Australia's financial intelligence unit, Austrac, says it can't comment on specific investigations.

But it has confirmed it is working closely with Intrac and the Australian Federal Police on entities linked to terrorist organisations.


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Source: AAP


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