A 22-year-old Kissimmee man is facing multiple felony charges for allegedly making false statements to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about flying to the Middle East to join ISIS.
Moad Mohamed Benkabbou was indicted on three counts of false statements to a federal agency last week by United States Attorney for the Middle District of Florida Roger B. Handberg.
According to the indictment, Benkabbou was asked if he had ever talked about ISIS with a person known to the FBI, if he had ever made plans to travel overseas to join ISIS, and if he had ever pledged to ISIS. Despite answering that he had not, evidence admitted during the detention hearing on January 19 suggested otherwise.
That evidence showed that Benkabbou swore an oath to support ISIS in January 2020, made plans to travel to Turkey and Syria to fight for ISIS, sent money to support ISIS, purchased airplane tickets in August 2020 and January 2021, and sent ISIS propaganda videos to others. Those included ISIS-sponsored videos showing executions of American allies fighting ISIS.
Benkabbou also allegedly sent a picture of himself dressed as an ISIS fighter with the statement “Hey Crusaders hey Jews die within your rage.”
Benkabbou faces a maximum sentence of eight years in federal prison because the false statements made to the FBI are related to an international terrorism investigation. He is being detailed in a local jail pending trial, according to court records.