Word: hawala
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Dates: during 2001-2001
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...Welcome to the world of hawala, an international underground banking system that allows money to show up in the bank accounts or pockets of men like hijacker Mohammed Atta, without leaving any paper trail. There are no contracts, bank statements or transaction records, and yet those who use the hawala networks can move thousands of dollars around the world in a matter of hours...
Accounts at Suntrust and Dime Bancorp surely form just the exposed layer of the terrorists' deeply buried finances. They may have employed a system of brokers called hawala, which means "in trust" in Hindi. It's essentially an IOU system based on mutual trust and little record keeping...
...involved in logistical support for the terrorists didn't know the full scope of the plot or were unwitting facilitators. Among the latter, investigators say, is Egyptian-born travel agent Ahmed Badawi of Orlando, Fla., who may have provided the Florida-based hijackers with airline tickets, flight information and hawala services. He was taken into custody Sept. 15 as a material witness but has been released...
Some of bin Laden's money is in mainstream institutions--the Saudis froze his assets after the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Africa, though he may have money in Switzerland, England and numerous other countries--but al-Qaeda also makes heavy use of hawala, an informal Islamic banking network that has operated for generations in Asia and the Middle East. Hawala, Hindi for "in trust," links brokers around the world who advance funds to depositors on a handshake and, sometimes, a password. In remote areas, a broker may have little more than a rug and a phone. In larger cities...