Abdel and Omar Adhami
Introduction
Abdel Adhami and his brother Omar Adhami are two brothers from St. Tammany Parish, Louisiana — per Louisiana Secretary of State records cited by WVUE, they own 4 Her Beauty Supply in Hammond and J-Lo Supply in Slidell — who were arrested in September 2026 on sealed federal complaints and charged with supporting Hamas under the guise of humanitarian fundraising for Gaza. Their charges were unsealed on September 30, 2026 after their first court appearances, alongside the New York indictment of their alleged primary contact, Saleem Alzaq, accused of funneling roughly $1.7 million to the group. Both brothers are charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and wire fraud, with Abdel additionally facing money-laundering counts.
Background Information
Abdel, the elder brother, operated multiple Snapchat accounts from 2021 to November 2025 posting Hamas propaganda and directing followers to his Telegram account to donate, and also solicited money for Gaza through Instagram, according to his criminal complaint; Omar allegedly sent smaller sums in the same period. Per their businesses’ filings, the brothers’ commercial footprint was in St. Tammany Parish, where court records say the alleged crimes occurred. The FBI and the New York Police Department ran the joint investigation that produced the cases.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Charged, not adjudicated. The Adhami brothers face charges in sealed-then-unsealed complaints filed September 11, 2026 in the Eastern District of Louisiana, with a grand jury indictment on four felony counts each reported by WVUE. The account below is drawn from the complaints and indictment as described in press coverage; the charges are allegations, the brothers are presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty, they were detained pending a detention hearing and have not yet entered a plea, and their defense attorneys could not immediately be reached.
Prosecutors allege the brothers solicited donations “purportedly to provide humanitarian aid to people in Gaza” through campaigns advertised as charity, while an alleged Hamas member used the money to support the group — a scheme prosecutors say raised at least $1.7 million since 2020. Abdel is accused of funneling more than $83,000 to Hamas between 2023 and 2026, with the FBI attributing roughly $80,000 sent between November 2023 and February 2026 to people close to Alzaq in Gaza, primarily via PayPal; Omar is accused of sending about $6,000 in the same period, once requesting “to have a sheep or goat slaughtered for the needy and poor in Gaza.” An indictment-level total cited by WVUE puts the brothers’ combined sending at more than $105,000 between February 2021 and September 2026.
The case broke open, according to court records, when Alzaq inadvertently contacted an undercover NYPD detective known as “Hussain” over Snapchat in November 2025, then directed the officer to Abdel: “Call him and come to an understanding with him and see what’s the best method, how to transfer, how to send them [funds]. This young man transfers to me on a monthly basis.” Posing as the owner of a cash-only store, the detective discussed transfer mechanics with Abdel, who said a payment could be processed “through his store’s cash register” and discussed Zelle, cash pickup and other routes; agents allege the brothers used codewords to mark money destined for militants while describing other funds as refugee aid. It is unclear whether money ever actually moved to Abdel from the undercover operation. In one January 2024 voice message cited in the complaint, Alzaq told a Snapchat account controlled by Abdel: “This is the message I wanted to deliver to the person who donated the bread… Some of them received the bread, thanks be to God.”
Public Reaction and Consequences
NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said the department’s “counterterrorism work knows no borders,” that its analysts “uncovered this international finance network and built the case that exposed more than $2 million being funneled to Hamas,” and praised partners for helping “dismantle this network.” National-security researchers described the case as part of an escalating prosecutorial priority: “There’s been a steady increase of Hamas-related arrests in recent weeks across the country,” said Seamus Hughes of the University of Nebraska Omaha’s counterterrorism center, who first reported the records on X. The brothers were detained pending a detention hearing.
Current Status
As of October 1, 2026, both brothers stand charged with providing material support to a foreign terrorist organization and wire fraud, with Abdel additionally facing money laundering — all unadjudicated allegations; no pleas have been entered and no trial has occurred. They were arrested in September 2026, made an initial court appearance about a week after the sealed September 11 complaints, remained detained pending a detention hearing, and the details became public only once the complaints were unsealed on September 30. Alzaq, believed to be in Gaza, was separately indicted in Manhattan on charges including money laundering and violating sanctions.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The charges put two small-town Louisiana shop owners at the center of a federal terrorism-financing prosecution spanning the Eastern District of Louisiana and the Southern District of New York, with their businesses named in press coverage of the case. Their detention pending the detention hearing, and potential decades-long sentencing exposure typical of material-support convictions, mark the accusation itself as life-altering regardless of outcome; their attorneys had not responded to press inquiries as of the unsealing. The case is now a permanent, searchable public record.
Sources
- New York Post, “Two US brothers busted in $1.7M Hamas fundraising scheme — that was exposed with help from the NYPD,” October 1, 2026 — source
- NBC News, “Prosecutors allege long-running scheme to raise money for Hamas,” October 1, 2026 — source
- Times-Picayune | The Advocate (nola.com), “Two St. Tammany brothers accused of helping Hamas by feds,” October 1, 2026 — source
- WVUE Fox 8, “Louisiana brothers accused of fundraising for Hamas,” October 1, 2026 — source