Non-profit World Vision has moved for the arrest of a manager in its Israel office following allegations of fund misdirection towards an Islamist militant group.
Authorities arrested Mohammad El Halaby, manager of operations in the Gaza office, on June 15, World Vision told reporters. El Halaby was charged with allegedly siphoning more than $40 million in charity funds to the Hamas since 2010. The charges were filed 50 days after his initial detention.
“World Vision programs in Gaza have been subject to regular internal and independent audits, independent evaluations, and a broad range of internal controls aimed at ensuring that assets reach their intended beneficiaries and are used in compliance with applicable laws and donor requirements. Based on the information available to us at this time, we have no reason to believe that the allegations are true,” the organization announced.
The non-profit first broke ground in Jerusalem, west Bank and Gaza in 1975. Reports peg the combined budget of these three areas at $17.5 million, with $12 million coming from sponsorship.
