ISIS supporter found guilty of giving £3,000 from overpaid housing benefits to Brussels bombing suspect ‘Man in the hat’ during secret park rendezvous

A MAN who gave £3,000 benefits cash to the Brussels bombing suspect dubbed the "Man in the Hat" is facing jail.

Zakaria Boufassil, 26, of Birmingham, handed over the money to Mohamed Abrini in the months before the Paris and Brussels atrocities, where more than than 160 people were murdered.

Belgian national Boufassil was found guilty of engaging conduct in preparation of acts of terrorism at London's Kingston Crown Court.

A second man, Mohammed Ali Ahmed, 27, accused of also supplying the cash to Abrini, pleaded guilty four weeks ago to the same offence.

Boufassil, who was brought up in Belgium before moving to the UK three or four years ago, looked stunned as the verdict was delivered.

During the trial , he continually denied having been involved with or supporting terrorist activity and told court he was a dope-smoking dupe who had been used by Ahmed  to deliver the money.

Earlier this year, Abrini, 31, was arrested in Belgium and accused of "participating in terrorist acts" linked to the Brussels Zaventem Airport suicide bombing on March 22.

Police believe he is the the ";Man in the Hat" captured on CCTV alongside the terrorists who killed 12 people in the Belgian capital with suitcase bombs.

A second bomb blast at Maalbeek metro station less than two hours later claimed another 20 lives.
The Belgian Moroccan is also a suspect Paris attacks, which left 130 people dead last November.

Abrini was handed the money when he was in the UK between 9 and 16 July 2015.

He met Ahmed and Boufassil who handed over the money near Small Heath Park in Birmingham.

During his UK visit, Abrini also visited casinos in Birmingham and Manchester, Old Trafford football stadium, the Arndale Shopping Centre in Manchester and the Bullring in Birmingham, after travelling to Britain from Syria via Turkey.

The court heard how money was taken from an account held by Anouar Haddouchi, another Belgian who had been living in Birmingham but joined ISIS.

The account contained overpaid housing benefits totalling £5,413 which had been paid between December 21, 2014, and November 1, 2015.

Prosecuting Max Hill QC said there was "no doubt" the money was handed over with the intention of assisting acts of terrorism.

He told the jury: "The destination of the money would include Syria, and specifically Daesh, either to Haddouchi himself or to other fighters."

"This case, you may think, gives you a glimpse of how terrorists work, how they prepare.

"They need money. No doubt it comes in all amounts and from many sources. This case just shows one occasion, one source, one piece of the jigsaw of so-called Islamic State."
During the trial Boufassil admitted meeting Abrini in the park, but denied it had anything to do terrorism and its funding.

He insisted that Ahmed had "never communicated" his plans, "took advantage of his naivety" and had not told him that Abrini, who he claimed to never have met, was a "bad person".

The pair will be sentenced on December 12.

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