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U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE TREASURY
Treasury Sanctions Six Individuals for Raising funds in the
United Arab Emirates to Support Nigeria’s Boko Haram
Terrorist Group
March 25, 2022

WASHINGTON — Today, the U.S. Department of the Treasuryʼs O�ice of Foreign Assets
Control (OFAC) designated a network of six individuals connected to Nigeria-based terrorist
group, Boko Haram. All six were found guilty of establishing a Boko Haram cell in the United
Arab Emirates (UAE) to raise funds for and provide material assistance to Boko Haram
insurgents in Nigeria. OFACʼs action follows arrests, prosecutions, and designations in the
UAE in September 2021, demonstrating the commitment of the Emirati government to using
judicial measures and targeted financial sanctions to disrupt the flow of funds to these
networks.
“With this action, the United States joins the UAE in targeting terrorist financing networks of
mutual concern,” said Under Secretary of the Treasury Brian Nelson. “Treasury continues to
target financial facilitators of terrorist activity worldwide. We welcome multilateral action on
this Boko Haram network to ensure that it is not able to move any further funds through the
international financial system.”
OFAC designated Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf,
Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad
pursuant to Executive Order (E.O.) 13224, as amended, which targets terrorists, leaders, and
o�icials of terrorist groups, and those providing support to terrorists or acts of terrorism. The
U.S. Department of State designated Boko Haram as a Foreign Terrorist Organization and a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist on November 14, 2013.
BOKO HARAM NETWORK IN THE UAE
The UAE Federal Court of Appeals in Abu Dhabi convicted Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Salihu
Yusuf Adamu, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed Ibrahim Isa, Ibrahim Ali Alhassan, and Surajo
Abubakar Muhammad for transferring $782,000 from Dubai to Boko Haram in Nigeria. Salihu
Yusuf Adamu and Surajo Abubakar Muhammad were sentenced to life imprisonment for

violations of UAE anti-terrorism laws; Abdurrahman Ado Musa, Bashir Ali Yusuf, Muhammed
Ibrahim Isa, and Ibrahim Ali Alhassan were sentenced to 10 years in prison, followed by
deportation. Todayʼs designations will prevent these individualsʼ funds from being used
further to support terrorism.
SANCTIONS IMPLICATIONS
As a result of todayʼs action, all property and interests in property of the individuals named
above, and of any entities that are owned, directly or indirectly, 50 percent or more by them,
individually, or with other blocked persons, that are in the United States or in the possession
or control of U.S. persons, must be blocked and reported to OFAC. Unless authorized by a
general or specific license issued by OFAC or otherwise exempt, OFACʼs regulations generally
prohibit all transactions by U.S. persons or within the United States (including transactions
transiting the United States) that involve any property or interests in property of designated
or otherwise blocked persons.
Furthermore, engaging in certain transactions with the individuals designated today entails
risk of secondary sanctions pursuant to E.O. 13224, as amended. Pursuant to this authority,
OFAC can prohibit or impose strict conditions on the opening or maintaining in the United
States of a correspondent account or a payable-through account of a foreign financial
institution that knowingly conducted or facilitated any significant transaction on behalf of a
Specially Designated Global Terrorist.
The power and integrity of OFAC sanctions derive not only from its ability to designate and
add persons to the Specially Designated Nationals and Blocked Persons List (SDN List), but
also from its willingness to remove persons from the SDN List consistent with the law. The
ultimate goal of sanctions is not to punish but to bring about a positive change in behavior.
For information concerning the process for seeking removal from an OFAC list, including the
SDN List, please refer to OFACʼs Frequently Asked Question 897 here. For detailed
information on the process to submit a request for removal from an OFAC sanctions list,
please here.
Additional information regarding sanctions programs administered by OFAC can be found
here.
View identifying information on the individuals designated today.

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