Lebanese
security forces in early March raided currency exchange offices and
money transfer companies on suspicion they had sent huge sums of money
to ISIS. The judicial source said the
accused “rented currency exchange offices from Lebanese nationals at
very attractive prices and began transferring money to ISIS in Turkey,
Iraq, and Syria.” “Each transfer was valued
between $10,000 and $100,000… Most of the money would eventually
reach ISIS’s stronghold in Mosul in Iraq, or in Raqqa, Aleppo, Palmyra,
or Qalamun in Syria,” he said. While money to ISIS in Iraq was transferred directly, the wires to Syria always went through Turkey first.  Lebanon has been heavily impacted by the war in neighboring Syria since it erupted in March 2011.

Security
forces have on several occasions arrested suspected ISIS members,
including in February when two men were detained on suspicion of
planning an attack in central Beirut. Lebanon’s
central bank imposes strict rules on financial institutions intended to
prevent money laundering and terrorism financing, including caps on the
amount that can be transferred overseas without additional supporting
paperwork.