Daesh stashed millions of dollars during reign of terror in region: Economist

A report says Daesh rose to become the “richest terrorist group in history” by stashing millions of dollars across the region before losing its territorial rule in Iraq and Syria late last year.

In a report on Thursday, the Economist news portal said that the terrorist group has invested in businesses in Iraq, bought gold in Turkey and continued to transfer money to its affiliates.

“You wouldn’t believe the amount of money that has gone out of IS’ [Daesh] territory,” the report quoted a former weapons-dealer involved in transferring the terrorists’ cash.
Daesh first emerged in Syria in 2014 and later expanded its campaign of terror to neighboring Iraq. The terrorist managed to seize large swathes of Syrian and Iraqi land in lightning advances.

It took three years for the Syrian and Iraqi national armies to fully liberate their land from the clutches of the world’s most notorious terror group.

The report said Daesh has built up fat reserves of cash as it gained ground in the two countries, where it declared a so-called “caliphate.”

Citing an unnamed Iraqi legislator, the report said Daesh smuggled $400 million out of Iraq and Syria during its retreat.

The terrorist group sold oil from the fields it captured, taxed and robbed the people it ruled and stole perhaps $500 million from Iraqi banks, making it the richest terrorist group in history, said the report.