By New York Post (U.S.) | Created at 2025-03-14 13:02:42 | Updated at 2025-03-14 17:02:10
4 hours ago
A Muslim charity with links to Hamas was awarded more than $7.2 million in taxpayer cash, which has now disappeared, according to a watchdog group.
An “immediate investigation” needs to be launched into The Council on American-Muslim Relations’ (CAIR) California chapter’s use of funds, according to the watchdog, who sent a complaint to the Department of Justice Thursday.
According to the Intelligent Advocacy Network (IAN), a California-based, non-partisan advocacy group, the money was given to the chapter to help re-settle impoverished immigrants in California between 2022 and 2024.
In what appears to be a sleight of hand, the money – $7,217,968.44 — was sent to CAIR-Greater Los Angeles and not to CAIR-CA, which was the only group eligible to receive it, according to the complaint.
The Greater Los Angeles chapter of the Muslim organization, which is not a registered non-profit and not eligible to handle charitable donations, received the entire pot of money according to the complaint, viewed by The Post.
“These sub grants from CAIR-CA to CAIR chapters raise serious legal concerns about whether CAIR simply shifted more money to itself,” the complaint said.
CAIR Los Angeles also appeared to divide the federal grant and “sub-granted” to other groups, including CAIR’s chapters in San Diego and San Francisco.
Those CAIR chapters were not registered with the IRS and once they receive cash, have no public responsibility to declare where it is spent, the complaint charges.
“There’s no transparency,” said Julie Marzouk, a founding board member of IAN who scoured public documents to trace the cash.
“This is part of a consistent pattern from CAIR — to muddy the waters and limit the public’s ability to track the money.”
Marzouk and her group have also asked the federal government to revoke CAIR-CA’s accreditation, which it needs to receive grants under the DOJ’s refugee program.
The accreditation allows groups to represent low-income immigrants before federal agencies such as the Department of Homeland Security without a lawyer, Marzouk told The Post.
“It’s a privilege, not a right, and a group needs to follow appropriate rules of conduct,” she said.
Although dispersing the money to its sub-groups isn’t illegal in itself, CAIR-CA is supposed to keep an account of where the dollars are going.
CAIR-CA’s accreditation expired last month and needs to be renewed if they want to continue receiving funds, according to the complaint.
“[CAIR’s] misuse of federal grant funding and support for Hamas, a US-designated foreign terrorist organization, do not meet the ethical and legal requirements necessary for EOIR [Executive Office of Immigration Review] accreditation,” the complaint said.
“A formal forensic audit followed by a proper DOJ investigation is necessary to evaluate the full extent of CAIR-CA’s financial misconduct, compliance breeches and support for terrorism.”
CAIR did not respond to The Post’s request for comment.
IAN also wants a probe into $2.6 million that CAIR-CA received from California’s Department of Social Services in funding for the state’s “Stop the Hate” program in 2022.
The grant was awarded to CAIR “omitting California,” the complaint said, adding that the state was so confused it “sought clarification on the entity name.”
In California, CAIR leaders have lobbied against Holocaust education in the Senate, and pushed for anti-Israel measures, such as boycotts, at the municipal level, said Marzouk.
Some CAIR leaders praised the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks against Israel. Zahra Billoo, the executive director of CAIR in San Francisco minimized Hamas atrocities against Israelis, declaring that the world was “witnessing decolonization,” according to the Anti-Defamation League.
In earlier statements, Billoo warned about Jewish organizations.
“We need to pay attention to the Anti-Defamation League,” said Billoo during a 2021 panel discussion sponsored by the American Muslims for Palestine.
“We need to pay attention to the Jewish Federation. We need to pay attention to the Zionist synagogues. We need to pay attention to the Hillel chapters on our campuses, just because they are your friends today, doesn’t mean that they have your back when it comes to human rights.”
Hussam Ayloush, the executive director of CAIR-CA, said that Israel had no right to defend itself after Oct. 7 and yet Palestinians have the right to “pick up arms”
In January, he concluded a sermon in Los Angeles by asking worshippers to join CAIR for a monthly fee to fight against President Trump’s executive orders that would impact the Muslim community, according to the Middle East Media Research Institute.
Last month, The Post revealed that CAIR Inc., the Muslim’s charity’s national chapter, settled a lawsuit brought by a former board member and employee rather than open its books to reveal sources of foreign funding.
Evidence in past court proceedings has shown links between The Council on American-Islamic Relations Foundation Inc. and both Hamas and the Muslim Brotherhood.
CAIR Inc. settled with Lori Saroya, months after US Magistrate Judge David Schultz ruled any assets owned by the group are all within the “scope of permissible discovery” as part of the former Minnesota chapter leader’s lawsuit against the controversial Muslim rights group.
