A former undercover agent for Australian spy agency ASIO, codenamed Marcus, told the program he infiltrated the Dawah Van group and witnessed how it indoctrinated teenagers into violent extremism.<\/p>\n
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Marcus infiltrated Mr Haddad’s network for ASIO. (Four Corners: Sissy Reyes)<\/p>\n
Video of the Dawah Van’s activities showed Mr Haddad working to convert teenagers in Sydney’s CBD with a violent convicted criminal, Wassim Fayad, who was previously identified in court as an IS recruiter.<\/p>\n
ACNC commissioner Sue Woodward declined an interview but in a written statement said: “Revocation of charity registration is the most serious action the ACNC can take.”<\/p>\n
“Once a charity loses registration, it is no longer eligible for Commonwealth tax concessions and other benefits that charities are entitled to receive,” she said.<\/p>\n
The Dawah Van has also raised funds for causes overseas. It can continue to operate but will no longer receive GST and income tax exemptions.<\/p>\n
Mr Haddad’s lawyer, Elias Tabchouri, told the ABC the Dawah Van was “working through this issue with the relevant authorities”.<\/p>\n
He said Mr Haddad vehemently denied allegations that he or the organisation were recruiting people into terrorism, or that he was a leader of a pro-IS network.<\/p>\n
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Notorious alleged Islamic State recruiter Wassim Fayad (centre in green shirt) talking to young men with Mr Haddad (left, wearing sunglasses) in Sydney’s CBD. (Supplied)<\/p>\n
The decision is another blow for Mr Haddad, also known as Abu Ousayd, who was recently found by the Federal Court to have breached the Racial Discrimination Act in a series of antisemitic lectures<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Mr Haddad has long been a controversial media figure, publicly celebrating IS attacks in the West and beheadings in Syria by slain Australian fighters Khaled Sharrouf and Mohamed Elomar.<\/p>\n He became notorious more than a decade ago for running the now-defunct Al-Risalah Islamic Centre, which was publicly identified by courts and media as a hub for terrorism recruiters.<\/p>\n Charity regulator under-resourced, expert says<\/p>\n University of Queensland charity law expert Kim Weinert said the Dawah Van case exposed serious regulatory flaws, questioning why the organisation was ever granted charity status.<\/p>\n “The case raises a number of concerns,” Dr Weinert said.<\/p>\n “The first is how easy it is for organisations that are actively carrying out questionable activities that can so easily claim charitable status with the ACNC.”<\/p>\n Dr Weinert accused the “under-resourced” and “tiny” regulator of an inconsistent approach to registering charities, with some rubber-stamped and others rejected almost solely based on paperwork.<\/p>\n “It does raise eyebrows and concerns as to what entities are receiving charitable status,” she said.<\/p>\n Do you know more?Contact Sean Rubinsztein-Dunlop on Signal: @seanrdunlop01 and on Protonmail: seanrdunlop@protonmail.com<\/a>Please use this form<\/a> to get in contact with the ABC Investigations team, or if you require more secure communication, please choose an option on the confidential tips page<\/a><\/p>\n Mr Haddad has never been charged with a terrorism-related offence, despite ties to a web of convicted terrorists in Australia and overseas.<\/p>\n In recent years, he has worked with terrorist leaders to re-energise the pro-IS network, while a new generation of his teenage followers have been charged with serious terrorism offences and brutal hate crimes in Sydney.<\/p>\n Street preaching’s long ties to terrorism<\/p>\n Mr Haddad used his new name, William Haddad, when he registered the Dawah Van as a charity in 2022.<\/p>\n The charity’s vision was to “reach out to the community in order to educating [sic] them about the greatness of God and comprehend purpose of life”, according to its constitution.<\/p>\n But the Dawah Van was a revival of a Sydney street-preaching group, Street Dawah, which was identified by multiple courts to have recruited young Australians into terrorism more than a decade ago.<\/p>\n Similar Street Dawah groups have long been accused by authorities in the UK and Europe of being recruitment arms for terrorist groups.<\/p>\n The roving street-preaching teams were pioneered by the international terrorist group al-Muhajiroun, whose leader, Anjem Choudary, was jailed for life in the UK last year.<\/p>\n In the Four Corners program, former ASIO spy Marcus revealed Choudary had closely mentored Mr Haddad before his arrest.<\/p>\n Al-Madina Dawah Centre in Bankstown. (Four Corners: Sissy Reyes)<\/p>\n Marcus also exposed the inner workings of Mr Haddad’s Bankstown prayer centre, Al Madina Dawah Centre, and covert groups of IS terrorists in his network.<\/p>\n Marcus is now hiding in an undisclosed overseas location, protecting himself from threats published by extremists online.<\/p>\n ACNC investigation shrouded in secrecy<\/p>\n The ABC asked the ACNC why it deregistered the Dawah Van and whether its initial decision to grant charity status was a failure of governance and oversight.<\/p>\n But the ACNC said it was precluded from disclosing information about specific charities and investigations, under strict secrecy provisions.<\/p>\n The last federal parliament considered legislation to ease the secrecy provisions, allowing the commissioner to release information in limited cases, but the bill lapsed.<\/p>\n “Any investigation we undertake must be thorough, independent, comprehensive, proportionate and consistent with our approach to all investigations,” Commissioner Sue Woodward said in a statement.<\/p>\n “They can be complex and take time to complete.<\/p>\n Wisam Haddad handing out religious material in Sydney’s CBD as part of his Dawah Van activities. (Four Corners: Sissy Reyes)<\/p>\n “The ACNC will act firmly where vulnerable people or significant charity assets are at risk, where there is evidence of serious mismanagement or misappropriation, or if there is a serious or deliberate breach of the ACNC Act or ACNC Regulations.”<\/p>\n The ACNC said it prioritises compliance action against conduct that harms children and vulnerable adults, as well as misuse of a charity for terrorism or extremism, and financial mismanagement.<\/p>\n Public records on Dawah Van, which have since been removed from the ACNC’s website, showed it failed to submit financial reports to the regulator for two years \u2014 a breach that leads to revocation under the commission’s policy.<\/p>\n Known risk of terrorism financing in the non-profit sector<\/p>\n Australian authorities have long been wary of the risk of charities supporting terrorism.<\/p>\n In 2017, the ACNC and financial crimes agency AUSTRAC assessed the risk of terrorism financing in Australia’s not-for-profit sector as medium.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
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