Man accused of funding ISIS recruits extradited to U.S.
A man accused of leading a New York network that financed travel for people seeking to join ISIS and Al-Nusrah Front has been extradited to the United States from the country of Georgia, according to federal prosecutors.
Davud Ansariy, 41, was extradited from Tbilisi on Wednesday after being arrested in Georgia in August, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. He was scheduled to be arraigned in federal court in Brooklyn on Thursday afternoon.
The suspect, a citizen of Uzbekistan and a naturalized U.S. citizen, is also known as “Kozimjon Gafurov” and “Kozim.” He faces one count of conspiring to provide material support to a foreign terrorist organization and one count of providing and attempting to provide such support.
Prosecutors allege that he led a group based primarily in Brooklyn whose members either planned to travel to Syria to become fighters or helped finance the journeys of others.
Participants referred to the group as “chayxona,” an Uzbek word meaning “tea house” or “tea party.” Their collections also supported relatives left behind by those who traveled to Syria and the widows and families of fighters who were killed, according to prosecutors.
The suspect and others allegedly funded the travel of at least three people to Syria in 2013. All three are believed to have been killed there.
The indictment alleges a conspiracy running from approximately January 2013 through May 2016. The second count covers alleged support between January 2013 and February 2015, including money, services and personnel.
Prosecutors said the suspect left for Turkey in May 2016 on a one-way ticket purchased the previous day. His departure came five days after the arrest of an alleged co-conspirator, and he did not return to the United States until his extradition.
“More than a decade ago, the defendant fled the United States in an effort to evade justice for his extremely serious crimes,” U.S. Attorney Joseph Nocella Jr. said.
A federal grand jury in Brooklyn indicted him in November 2021. He faces up to 35 years in prison if convicted.
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Ella Rae Greene, Editor In Chief
