Mother and daughter jailed for sending cash to terrorist relative in Syria
A mother and daughter who were caught sending cash to a terrorist relative in Syria through a mule in Uganda have been jailed.
Stella Oyella, 53, and Vanessa Atim, 32, sent more than £1,800 to Joseph Ogaba, who left the UK to join Islamic State (IS) in Syria in 2014.
Oyella and Atim, both from east London, knew that the money was funding Ogaba’s terrorist activities, police said.
Investigators found the pair had attempted to cover their tracks by sending the money through contacts in Uganda and the Middle East.
Oyella and Atim – Oyella’s brother and Atim’s uncle – were jailed for three years and three years and nine months respectively on Monday, having been convicted of terrorist fundraising after a Met Counter Terrorism Command investigation which was supported by Syrian authorities.
Commander Dominic Murphy, who leads the Met’s Counter Terrorism Command, said: “These women went to great lengths to first arrange, and then distance themselves from money transfers to Ogaba. They knew he had travelled to Syria to join a terrorist group and by sending him cash, they helped him remain with IS.
“This case shows how we work with our international partners to close the net on people who support terrorist activity, no matter how much time has passed.”
‘You turned a blind eye to what he was engaged in’
At the sentencing Judge Mark Dennis KC, sitting at the Old Bailey, said the women were not motivated by IS’s extremist beliefs but wanted to help Ogaba who was manipulating their close family bond as he said he was “desperate” for money to cover his general expenses.
There is no evidence the money was used for weapons or the women, who are Roman Catholic and of previous good character, wanted to support terrorism.
But the horrors of IS was dominating the headlines and they should have been aware of what the devastation they brought, the judge said.
He told them: “You both turned a blind eye to what your brother and uncle was engaged in and in so doing you were in effect giving support for terrorist activity which in 2017 he was still associated with.
“However, taken that your motivation was not ideological or a desire to engage in such activities, you knew what you were doing was wrong and could get you into trouble.”
The money transferred was at a low level but the women should have known that Ogaba was a “committed individual” who had left his home and was prepared to support jihad, the court heard.
Ogaba left his home in north London and travelled to Syria, via Germany and Turkey in September 2014, with the Muslim convert leaving a note for his family stating that he was going to join IS.
Pictures of Ogaba with weapons were recovered
Atim was detained at Heathrow on March 12, 2018, and Gatwick Airport on December 12, 2018, under the Terrorism Act by port officers. On both occasions devices were seized and messaging app conversations with references to money transactions were recovered.
The significance of these conversations became clear in 2019 when detectives analysed a computer hard drive linked to Ogaba and recovered by Syrian authorities the previous year.
Investigators found scans of money transfer receipts, and the dates, times and the monetary sums of these transactions aligned with those discussed in the messages.
Pictures of Ogaba, including evidence of his activities with IS, and extremist content with images of weapons and explosive devices were also recovered.
Investigators established that between March and October 2017, Atim and Oyella arranged for the money to be collected in the UK before being transferred overseas – often first to someone in Uganda. It would then be sent to contacts in the Middle East who would pass the cash onto Ogaba.
Oyella and Atim were interviewed by counter terrorism officers in June and December 2021 respectively, and charged on October 11 2022. They were found guilty of terrorist fundraising after a trial at the Old Bailey which concluded on 20 December 2023.
Syrian authorities reported that Ogaba had died while in prison, following his capture by Syrian Defence Forces in July 2022.
