WhatsApp hawala network moved hundreds of millions in cash across Europe

A WhatsApp group of 532 members called “Traders of Greater Europe” coordinated cross-border cash transfers worth hundreds of millions of euros, investigators and broadcasters found after retrieving an 82,000-message cache from a phone seized in Belgium in 2024.

Belgian investigating magistrate Vincent Guerra said the chat, active between late February and December 2022, was used to arrange large cash payments for clients across Europe, including deliveries to British cities such as Birmingham and London. Guerra described the volume of transactions as “staggering” and said the network reached around the globe.

Messages in Arabic show members organising transfers via the hawala system, where trusted brokers, or hawaladars, settle obligations between themselves without electronic records or physical movement of notes. The Traders of Greater Europe group was reserved for transfers over €5,000 and often handled much larger sums.

Belgian authorities obtained the chat after a 2024 trial that convicted six money launderers, including the Brussels network leader known as Abu Adam and his deputy Abu Ahmed. Police found the group on Abu Adam’s phone alongside 6,000 photos of €5 notes with serial numbers and 6,000 identity-card photos; magistrate Guerra said those items indicate at least 12,000 processed transactions.

Prosecutors also uncovered evidence that some funds were sent to Islamic State members in Syria, including money intended to help militants’ wives escape detention camps. The case began as a terror-financing probe but expanded to reveal wider criminal flows.

European Broadcasting Union reporting identified further hawala-linked networks across Europe. A former money launderer interviewed by the EBU, identified in reporting as Frank, estimated involvement in transactions totalling several hundred million euros and described rapid cash intake at a Rotterdam-area office.

Austrian investigations highlighted hawala’s role in people-smuggling and violence. ORF reported raids on a Vienna hawala operation run from a kebab restaurant; the two operators were convicted of human trafficking and other offences and sentenced in 2024. Austrian police and Europol also dismantled another people-smuggling ring reportedly responsible for moving about 100,000 people into Europe over 18 months.

Officials quoted in the reporting said hawala channels were used to demand ransom payments for tortured migrants, with payments routed through the informal network. Europol liaison Quentin Mugg described hawala as a primary money-laundering channel for organised crime, with brokers handling funds regardless of origin.

Liberal News Analysis: What Does This Development Mean?

The WhatsApp chat uncovered in Belgium offers direct evidence of a large-scale, informal hawala network coordinating high-value cash transfers across Europe. Court documents and seized phone material link the network to criminal proceeds, to payments for militants in Syria and to multiple cases of people-smuggling and associated violence reported by EBU partners.

Seized photos of banknote serial numbers and identity documents, the convictions in the 2024 Belgian trial, and reporting from Austria and the Netherlands together map a pattern of hawala use spanning legitimate remittances and organised-crime finance within the same channels.

Quick Glance: What You Need to Know

• WhatsApp group “Traders of Greater Europe” had 532 members and over 82,000 messages from Feb–Dec 2022.
• Belgian 2024 prosecutions convicted six money launderers after seizing a phone with the group chat and thousands of photos of banknotes and ID cards.
• Investigators found evidence of transfers to Islamic State contacts in Syria and links to people-smuggling and drug trafficking across Europe.