Jihadists held ‘sharia surgeries’ in sweet shop and funded hate campaign with British taxpayers’ money
A dozen supporters of ISIS recruiter Anjem Choudary were paid wages by a businessman who was handed huge sums of public money
BRITAIN's most reviled Islamist extremists funded their campaign of hate with more than £1million of taxpayers' money.
A dozen supporters of ISIS recruiter Anjem Choudary were paid wages by a businessman who was handed huge sums of public money to run computer training courses in libraries and job centres.
His firms included an old-fashioned sweet shop in London's East End, where extremists would hold "sharia surgeries" and discuss plans for murderous jihad.
Somehow, the businessman continued to receive grants from a government agency nearly four years after his links to Choudary became known.
Products of terror
Many members of the gang he financed are now in prison, including:
Siddharta Dhar, the IS executioner known as "Jihadi Sid". employed as a printer maintenance technician.
Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, facing jail for support ISIS but who once designed websites.
Brusthom Ziamani, serving a 22-year sentence for trying to kill a British police officer or serviceman.
Trevor Brooks, behind bars for trying to reach Syria and a "hardworking" employee of the firm.
The businessman, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was branded a terrorist funder by ministers and had his bank accounts frozen.
Police and MI5 said he enabled ALM "to exist and grow by providing employment and meeting places under an apparent legitimate veil of a confectionery shop."
However, he was never charged with any offence and has now won his appeal against the Treasury's freezing of his assets.
Home Affairs Committee chairman Keith Vaz MP told the MoS last night he would demand answers from the Home Secretary over the case.
He said: "It is incredible that so much government money has been spent on an organisation that supports individuals engaged in such activities.
"The government must ask for its money back from this company and there must be a full inquiry into this."
Choudary, 49, is now facing ten years' jail for swearing allegiance to ISIS, having evaded prosecution for years.
He became notorious when ALM celebrated the 9/11 hijackers as the "magnificent 19", but it has never been revealed that the group relied on government money until now.
According to the High Court judgement published last Friday, the businessman - known only as C - set up Best Training Solutions in 2001 and soon started receiving government grants.
It became very successful and at one point had a turnover of £1.4million, employed 40 people, operated four branches and ran partnerships with ten libraries and community centres.
It also had a "presence" in 20 Jobcentres.
Choudary's business associate set up a printing firm and an old-fashioned sweet shop called Yummy Yummy, and kept the jihadis afloat by diverting at least £693,663 to their bank accounts.
12 of the sweet shop's 13 employees were members of ALM and many also had roles in the training firms.
Even after Best Training's links to Choudary were exposed in 2011, its state funding continued.
It received £1,187,883 of public money between 2012 and 2014 alone.
In September 2014, police finally searched C's home and arrested him along with ten other people on suspicion of terror offences.
When questioned, he "denied knowledge of any of those items" and was not charged with any offence.
However, police believed he was still "using substantial profits from Best Training to subsidise the failing enterprise Yummy Sweets, the employees of which were all members of ALM."
As a result, C was designated under the Terrorist Asset-Freezing Act 2010 in February 2015.
A judge has now allowed his appeal because C claims he no longer has any money to fund terrorism.
The MoS knows the identity of C, who declined to comment on the judgement yesterday.
A Skills Funding Agency spokesman said it was made aware in 2014 that the police were investigating Best Training.
"The SFA worked in full co-operation with the police which resulted in Best Training being suspended with immediate effect from SFA's register of training providers and Government funding ceased."