A Dutch newspaper has reported on a large expenditure for the purchase of property by the Dutch branch of the Europe Trust, an organization that serves as a financing vehicle for the Muslim Brotherhood umbrella group in Europe. According to the report Yahia Bouyafa, the head of the Trust in the Netherlands, has previously rented office space in Zaadam but repeatedly failed to pay the rent. Within a few months, Bouyafa was somehow able to close a million dollar deal to purchase an office building in the Hague on behalf of the Trust for over 1.1 million Euro. The money was said to have arrived in small portions, probably from unidentified foreign sources. The report also identified Tunisian Karmis Gacha as the new Treasurer for the Europe Trust in the Netherlands who also runs a “cultural center’ in the building which was purchased. As a post from last year reported, Bouyafa is also the head of the Contact Groep Islam which is is one of two groups recognized by the government as representing Dutch Muslims. He is also the head of Federation of Islamic organizations in the Netherlands, the member organization of the Federation of Islamic Organizations in Europe (FIOE), the European Muslim Brotherhood umbrella group. That post also provided biographic details on Boyuafa as well as links from Bouyafa to Hamas and possibly Al Qaeda.
Although sometimes claiming to be an independent charity, the Europe Trust is in fact a central FIOE institution that purports to be a “Waqf”, a religious endowment consisting of revenue earning properties. The Trust has amassed a real-estate portfolio consisting of properties throughout Europe valued in 2006 at 5.7 million British pounds (approximately $10.4 million). Known funding sources are all Gulf-based and the Trust had engaged in some questionable, non-transparent real-estate transactions. To date, only a relatively small amount of the Trust’s income has gone to funding actual programs with the bulk of the expenditure devoted to purchasing additional property. When actual programs were supported, they were almost all connected to FIOE member organizations.
(Source: “MOSLIMBROEDERS RUKKEN OP; Peperduur pand aangekocht voor nieuw ‘hoofdkwartier’ in Den Haag? “Achterliggend doel is invoering van sharia” “Ze zien er niet uit als extremisten” De Telegraaf May 31, 2008 )