IS Terror Group Raises Millions from Plundered Relics

The Islamic State (IS) may have raised as much as $100 million by digging up and selling priceless antiquities from territory it controls, according to experts consulted by a U.S. congressional panel. 

At a Tuesday hearing of the House Task Force to Investigate Terrorism Financing, experts said IS is the wealthiest terror group operating today. The illegal relic trade is a “key source” of some of that wealth, according to Lawrence Schindell who tracks art sales and money laundering in the art world and heads ARIS Title Insurance Corporation.

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Yaya Fanusie of the Center on Sanctions and Illicit Finance, says the illegal relics trade is not as lucrative as the sale of oil by IS. But he says the relic trade requires less capital investment and can provide work badly needed by residents in areas where the economy is disrupted by conflict. IS also licenses relic hunters in areas under its control, taxes their finds, and is increasingly directly involved in finding and selling these goods.

Fanusie says the relic trade is not likely to be disrupted by air strikes that have hurt revenue from oil operations. The relics trade is also easier to foist on populations under IS control, than kidnapping, extortion, confiscation, or taxes which also produce revenue.

Fanusie says learning more about IS relic operations can give new insight into the terror group's operations, leadership, intentions, and vulnerabilities. He called for Washington to step up enforcement and penalties for relic buyers.

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