Terrorist financing

Publication date 28-02-2025, 11:47 | Last update 04-04-2025, 9:38

Terrorist financing consists of all kinds of help to terrorist groups or individuals. Such as financing the purchase of explosives or collecting money to finance terror or terrorists. The FIOD tracks suspects who contribute to terrorism with money, goods or services.

What is terrorist financing?

Without money, terrorism can barely exist. That is why terrorist financing is punishable. Terrorist financing takes many forms. Such as:

• withdrawing or donating money in cash: for example, to purchase raw materials for explosives;
• raising money for charity: the proceeds do not or do not entirely go to charity but are used for financing attacks or terrorists;
• fraud: directors of companies that channel subsidies to suspicious organisations or individuals.

It is punishable to make money or other resources available to persons or organisations that are on the national terrorism sanctions list.

What does the FIOD do to fight the financing of terrorism?

The Anti-Terrorism Financing Team (ATFT) of the FIOD investigates how money flows are connected with terrorist activities. The bank accounts of individuals who are on the national terrorism list can be frozen. The FIOD can arrest suspected persons. In this way, terrorist organisations are fought and possible attacks prevented.

Working together on terrorist financing

The FIOD works together with other institutions in the fight against terrorist financing. Those institutions include:

• banks
• National Police
• Public Prosecution Service (OM)
• intelligence services such as the General Intelligence & Security Service, AIVD (Algemene Inlichtingen- en Veiligheidsdienst.)
• Financial Intelligence Unit-Netherlands (FIU-Netherlands)

Banks conduct investigations into clients, FIU-Netherlands analyses unusual transactions, and the Public Prosecution Service prosecutes suspects. Often, this also uncovers underlying crimes such as money laundering. Institutions and professions with an obligation to report, must report unusual payments to FIU-Netherlands. FIU-Netherlands shares this information with the FIOD, among others.

Reporting terrorist financing and fraud

Do you wish to report terrorism financing or fraud?  Please use the FIOD online form. You can request an acknowledgement of receipt. You can provide us with your contact details but we will only contact you in case we have any questions. We are not allowed to tell you what happens with your report.

For more information about suspicious behaviour concerning the purchase of means of attack (chemicals), consult the National Coordinator for Security and Counterterrorism.